squeeze
Pronunciation Verb

squeeze (squeezes, present participle squeezing; past and past participle squeezed)

  1. (transitive) To apply pressure to from two or more sides at once.
    I squeezed the ball between my hands.
    Please don't squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle.
    • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1:
      "Over there—by the rock," Steele muttered, with his brush between his teeth, squeezing out raw sienna, and keeping his eyes fixed on Betty Flanders's back.
  2. (transitive) To embrace closely; to give a tight hug to.
  3. (ambitransitive) To fit into a tight place.
    I managed to squeeze the car into that parking space.
    Can you squeeze through that gap?
    • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows:
      Could he not squeeze under the seat of a carriage? He had seen this method adopted by schoolboys, when the journey- money provided by thoughtful parents had been diverted to other and better ends.
  4. (transitive) To remove something with difficulty, or apparent difficulty.
    He squeezed some money out of his wallet.
  5. (transitive) To put in a difficult position by presenting two or more choices.
    I'm being squeezed between my job and my volunteer work.
    • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party ↗," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):
      At a time when Mr. Cameron is being squeezed from both sides — from the right by members of his own party and by the anti-immigrant, anti-Europe U.K. Independence Party, and from the left by his Liberal Democrat coalition partners — the move seemed uncharacteristically clunky.
  6. (transitive, figurative) To oppress with hardships, burdens, or taxes; to harass.
    • L'Estrange
      In a civil war, people must expect to be crushed and squeezed toward the burden.
  7. (transitive, baseball) To attempt to score a runner from third by bunting.
    Jones squeezed in Smith with a perfect bunt.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations
  • Italian: spremersi
  • Russian: выжима́ть
Noun

squeeze (plural squeezes)

  1. A close#Adjective|close or tight fit.
  2. (figuratively) A difficult position.
    I'm in a tight squeeze right now when it comes to my free time.
  3. A hug or other affectionate grasp.
    a gentle squeeze on the arm
  4. (slang) A romantic partner.
    I want to be your main squeeze.
    • 2012, J. Lamar, Tip Tap Toe, Xlibris Corporation (ISBN 9781469189741), page 141:
      His young squeeze had just backed out and had not seen the assault on her “ sugar daddy” when it happened!
    • 1988, James Ellroy, Dudley Smith Trio: The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, White Jazz, Random House (ISBN 9781448108633), page 459:
      He spent nights cruising queer bars near the pad, saw Wiltsie at the dives, but always in the company of his squeeze, a guy he called 'Duane.'
    • 2014, N. Lombardi Jr., Journey Towards a Falling Sun, John Hunt Publishing (ISBN 9781782794936)
      But even considering that, he might have been a bit more restrained if he hadn't run into his former sexy squeeze, Penny Atieno.
  5. (slang) An illicit alcoholic drink made by squeezing Sterno through cheesecloth, etc., and mixing the result with fruit juice.
  6. (baseball) The act of bunting in an attempt to score a runner from third.
    The game ended in exciting fashion with a failed squeeze.
  7. (card games) A play that forces an opponent to discard a card that gives up one or more tricks.
  8. (caving) A traversal of a narrow passage.
    It was a tight squeeze, but I got through to the next section of the cave.
  9. (epigraphy) An impression of an inscription formed by pressing wet paper onto the surface and peeling off when dry.
    The light not being good enough for photography, I took a squeeze of the stone.
  10. (mining) The gradual closing of workings by the weight of the overlying strata.
  11. (dated) A bribe or fee paid to a middleman, especially in China; the practice of requiring such a bribe or fee.
    • A. R. Colquhoun
      one of the many "squeezes" imposed by the mandarins
Translations Translations
  • Russian: пожа́тие
Translations
  • Portuguese: ficante
Translations


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.044
Offline English dictionary