squeeze

/skwiːz/

squeeze verb: to apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once.

Verb

squeeze (third-person singular simple present squeezes, present participle squeezing, simple past squeezed or (nonstandard) squoze, past participle squeezed or (nonstandard) squoze or (nonstandard) squozen)

(ambitransitive) To apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once.
- I squeezed the ball between my hands.
- Please don't squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle.
Synonyms:

compress
(transitive) To embrace closely; to give a tight hug to.
(ambitransitive) To fit into a tight place.
- I managed to squeeze the car into that parking space.
- Can you squeeze through that gap?
(transitive) To remove something with difficulty, or apparent difficulty.
- He squeezed some money out of his wallet.
(intransitive) To barely manage to.
- I managed to squeeze through the exam with a D.
(transitive) To put in a difficult position by presenting two or more choices.
- I'm being squeezed between my job and my volunteer work.
- 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.2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, “British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 May 2013
(figuratively, transitive) To oppress with hardships, burdens, or taxes; to harass.
- a Civil War where People must expect to be crush'd and squeez'd in the Consequence1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC
- However he lost out, as other business interests whom he had alienated by his efforts to squeeze every penny of profit from the canal, supported the construction of the railway.2025 June 25, Christian Wolmar, “How slow boats gradually gave way to rail”, in RAIL, number 1038, page 57
(transitive) To attempt to score a runner from third by bunting.
- Jones squeezed in Smith with a perfect bunt.

Noun

squeeze (countable and uncountable, plural squeezes)

An instance of squeezing.
- to give something a squeeze
- Dip your sponge into the water, tehn turn it over and dip it again. That gets both sides wet. Now give it a squeeze to get most of the water out—but not all of it! You'll get the feel of how much water you need in your sponge as you practice with the clay.2016 October 10, Ann Pelo, The Language of Art: Inquiry-Based Studio Practices in Early Childhood Settings, Redleaf Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 98
A close or tight fit.
(figuratively) A difficult position.
- I'm in a tight squeeze right now when it comes to my free time.
- There is a growing recognition that, as the population ages and the squeeze on NHS resources continues, better ways of supporting older people outside hospital need to be developed.2016 June 30, Kate Murray, “How occupational therapists help keep older people out of hospital”, in The Guardian
A hug or other affectionate grasp.
- a gentle squeeze on the arm
(slang) A romantic partner.
- I want to be your main squeeze.
- “No, Mona. Her new squeeze is one of Wage's boys.”1984, William Gibson, Neuromancer (Sprawl; book 1), New York, N.Y.: Ace Books, →ISBN, page 9
(slang) An illicit alcoholic drink made by squeezing Sterno through cheesecloth, etc., and mixing the result with fruit juice.
The act of bunting in an attempt to score a runner from third.
- The game ended in exciting fashion with a failed squeeze.
A play that forces an opponent to discard a card that gives up one or more tricks.
A traversal of a narrow passage.
- It was a tight squeeze, but I got through to the next section of the cave.
- The most notorious squeezes have names: the Gun Barrel, Jam Crack, the Electric Armpit Crawl, Devil's Pinch.2003, Barbara Hurd, “The Squeeze”, in Entering the Stone: On Caves and Feeling through the Dark, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, →ISBN, page 11
A moulding, cast or other impression of an object, chiefly a design, inscription etc., especially by pressing wet paper onto the surface and peeling off when dry.
- Nollekens, finding his wife always benefited by these visits, never refused White a squeeze of a patera, or any thing that would answer his purpose; […] White […] had turned his wine-cellars into manufactories for the produce of cast coins, and moderns squeezes from Roman lamps.1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 65
The gradual closing of workings by the weight of the overlying strata.
(dated) The situation experienced by a middleman when pressured from both sides, especially financially.
- Thus was established a powerful Chinese combination, which maintained itself by submitting to a heavy "squeeze" at the hands of the Viceroy and Governor of Canton on the one hand and of the Hoppo on the other.1898, Archibald R. Colquhoun, China in Transformation, page 47
(dated) A bribe, fee, or extortionary price paid to a middleman, especially in China; the practice of requiring such a bribe or fee.
- If the licence […] was costly, it secured to them uninterrupted and extraordinary pecuniary advantages; but on the other hand it subjected them to 'calls' or 'squeezes' for contributions to public works, […] for the relief of districts suffering from scarcity […] as well as for the often imaginary...1882, William C. Hunter, The "Fan Kwae" at Canton before treaty days 1825-1844
- The mattress shop had been bought with the proceeds of squeeze obtained by him from a former American employer.1928, China Digest, volume 10, page 10
(UK, obsolete, slang) A person's neck.
- "Got his description putty close: Short black 'air, black whiskers, with a crips^([sic]) curl at the hedges; a white choker, tight round his squeeze; dressed in black, and orful hugly," remarked the policeman.1860, The London Journal, page 146

squeeze meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

squeeze in Hindi

to apply pressure to from two or more sides at once: निचोड़ना nicoṛnā, दबाना dabānā

squeeze in Tamil

to apply pressure to from two or more sides at once: பிழி piḻi

squeeze in Marathi

to squeeze, squash, press, crush: चिरडणे ciraḍṇe

squeeze in Urdu

to squeeze: دبانا dabānā

More languagesFewer languages

squeeze in Bengali: টেপা, নিংড়ানো, চাপ দেওয়া
squeeze in Telugu: పిసుకు pisuku
squeeze in Malayalam: പിഴിയുക piḻiyuka, ഞെരുക്കുക ñerukkuka, ഞവിടുക ñaviṭuka, ഞെക്കുക ñekkuka
squeeze in Kannada: ಹಿಚುಕು hicuku
squeeze in Punjabi: ਨਚੋੜਨਾ nacoṛnā
squeeze in Gujarati: નિચોવવું nicovvũ
squeeze in Odia: ଚାପିବା cāpibā, ଚିପିବା cipibā
squeeze in Sanskrit: पीडयति pīḍayati
squeeze in Sinhala: මිරිකනවා mirikanawā
squeeze in Assamese: চেপা sepa, পিটিক pitik, টিপা tipa, পিটিকা pitika
squeeze in Nepali: निचोर्नु nicornu, दबाउनु dabāunu, चेप्नु cepnu
squeeze in Pashto: کېښکودل kex̌kodë́l
squeeze in Arabic: عَصَرَ ʕaṣara
squeeze in Indonesian: remas, abklats, acuan kertas
squeeze in Thai: บีบ bìip
squeeze in Vietnamese: đè, bóp, ép
squeeze in Myanmar: ညှစ် hnyac

Examples of squeeze in a sentence

I squeezed myself through the crowd.
Start squeezing gently, without moving the bag at first (to form a wide base for the stem), then raise the bag as you squeeze.2010, Alice Medrich, “Piping Meringue Mushrooms”, in Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies, New York, N.Y.: Artisan, →ISBN...
It was an omen of things to come as in the 56th minute the visitors took the lead after a mix-up between Skrtel and Sotirios Kyrgiakos allowed Ebanks-Blake's through-ball to squeeze between them.2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC:
Could he not squeeze under the seat of a carriage?1908 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
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.'1988, James Ellroy, Dudley Smith Trio: The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, White Jazz, Random House, →ISBN, page 459:

All 40 example sentences with squeeze

Synonyms of squeeze

Forms of squeeze

Verb
third-person singular present	squeezes
present participle	squeezing
past	squeezed
past participle	squeezed
past (nonstandard)	squoze
past participle (nonstandard)	squoze
past participle (nonstandard)	squozen
Noun
plural	squeezes

Past tense of squeeze: squeezed

Plural of squeeze: squeezes

Origin of squeeze

From earlier squize, squise (whence also dialectal English squizzen and squeege), first attested around 1600, further origin uncertain; probably an alteration of quease (which is attested since 1550), from Middle English queisen (“to squeeze”), from Old English cwȳsan (“to crush, squeeze”), itself also of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare Swedish qväsa, kväsa (“to squeeze, bruise, crush; quell”), Dutch kwetsen (“to injure, hurt”), German quetschen (“to squeeze”)). Or, a blend of obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”) (whence also squash and squish) with quease. Compare also French esquicher from Old Occitan esquichar (“to press, squeeze”). The slang expression "to put the squeeze on (someone or something)", meaning "to exert influence", is from 1711. The baseball term "squeeze play" is first recorded 1905. "Main squeeze" ("most important person") is attested from 1896, the specific meaning "one's sweetheart, lover" is attested in 1970s. The nonstandard strong forms squoze and squozen, attested dialectally since at least the mid-19th century, are by analogy with freeze.

Phrases with squeeze

Words that rhyme with squeeze

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about squeeze

What does squeeze mean?: Squeeze means to apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once.
What is squeeze in Hindi?: Squeeze in Hindi is निचोड़ना (nicoṛnā), दबाना (dabānā). See Squeeze meaning in Hindi.
How do you use squeeze in a sentence?: I squeezed myself through the crowd.
What part of speech is squeeze?: Squeeze can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce squeeze?: Squeeze is pronounced /skwiːz/.
What is the past tense of squeeze?: The past tense of squeeze is squeezed.

Words near squeeze in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-squeeze.ogg.

Cite this entry: “squeeze.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/squeeze. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.