Word.ws English Dictionary

squinch

/skwɪnt͡ʃ/

squinch noun: a structure constructed between two adjacent walls to aid in the transition from a polygonal to a circular structure, as when a dome is constructed on top of a square room.

squinch: a structure constructed between two adjacent walls to aid in the transition from a polygonal to a...
Image: Pearson Scott Foresman, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

squinch (plural squinches)

  1. A structure constructed between two adjacent walls to aid in the transition from a polygonal to a circular structure, as when a dome is constructed on top of a square room.

Verb

squinch (third-person singular simple present squinches, present participle squinching, simple past and past participle squinched)

  1. (transitive) To scrunch up (one's face, etc.).
    • The president squinched his face and bit his lip and seemed too antsy to stand still.2008 March 15, Gail Collins, “George Speaks, Badly”, in New York Times

squinch meaning in Tamil and Persian

squinch in Tamil

உள்வளைவுக் கட்டுமானம்

squinch in Persian

structure between walls to transition to circular
سکنج sekonj, گوشه guše, گوشواره gušvâre, فیلگوش filguš

Forms of squinch

Noun
pluralsquinches
Verb
third-person singular presentsquinches
present participlesquinching
past participlesquinched
pastsquinched

Origin of squinch

Alteration of earlier scunch (“back part of the side of an opening”), short for scuncheon.

Uncertain. Probably blend of squint + pinch. Compare squink-eyed, variant of squint-eyed, so perhaps it is at least partly an altered form of squint.

Words formed from squinch

Phrases with squinch

Words that rhyme with squinch

Questions about squinch

What does squinch mean?
Squinch means a structure constructed between two adjacent walls to aid in the transition from a polygonal to a circular structure, as when a dome is constructed on top of a square room.
What is squinch in Tamil?
Squinch in Tamil is உள்வளைவுக் கட்டுமானம். See Squinch meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is squinch?
Squinch can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce squinch?
Squinch is pronounced /skwɪnt͡ʃ/.
What is the plural of squinch?
The plural of squinch is squinches.

Words near squinch in the dictionary

  1. squinances
  2. squinancies
  3. squinancy
  4. squinancywort
  5. squinantic
  6. squinch
  7. squinch owl
  8. squinch owls
  9. squinched
  10. squinches
  11. squinching

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: squinch (page history and authors); squinch (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-squinch.wav.

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