# square

Pronunciation: say "SKWAIR" US /skwɛɹ/, UK /skwɛə/, AUS /skweː/

## Noun

1. A four-sided polygon with all sides of equal length and all four interior angles equal to right angles.
   - Simple: A flat shape with four straight sides of equal length and four right-angle corners.
   - _A square has four lines of symmetry, more than any other rectangle._
   - _The proof shows that the diagonals of a square bisect each other at right angles._
3. An open public space or park, often at the center of a town, not necessarily square in shape, with trees, seating, and other attractive features.
   - Simple: An open public space in the middle of a town, often with trees, benches, and other nice features.
   - _Crowds gathered in the square to hear the mayor's announcement._
   - _The old market square is ringed by cafés and historic buildings._
5. A piece, part, or surface that has a square shape.
   - Simple: A flat piece or part shaped like a square.
   - _She sewed a square of red fabric onto the knee of his jeans._
   - _Cut the brownies into even squares before serving._
6. A single cell within a grid, such as one of the spaces on a board or chart.
   - Simple: One of the small boxes in a grid or on a board.
   - _The knight can only land on a square of the opposite color._
   - _Players advance one square at a time toward the finish._
7. The product of a number or quantity multiplied by itself, also called its second power.
   - Simple: The result of multiplying a number by itself.
   - _The square of seven is forty-nine._
   - _Engineers often work with the squares of measured values when calculating areas._
18. Ellipsis of square meal: a full, substantial meal, usually counted, as in three squares a day. *(colloquial, US)* — Ellipsis of square meal.
   - Simple: Short for square meal. A full meal that leaves you feeling satisfied.
   - _Army life was hard, but at least the recruits could count on three squares and a dry place to sleep._
   - _The shelter promises a warm bed and three squares a day to anyone who walks through the door._
21. An L- or T-shaped tool used for positioning objects or drawing lines at right angles.
   - Simple: A flat tool shaped like an L or T, used to draw or check right angles.
   - _She pressed the square against the edge and scribed a clean perpendicular line._
   - _A good carpenter keeps a square handy for checking that joints meet at ninety degrees._
22. The symbol # on a telephone keypad; also called hash. *(British)*
   - Simple: The # key on a phone keypad, also called hash.
   - _To access your voicemail, dial the number and press square._
   - _When the automated system asked for her account number, she entered it and finished with the square key._
24. A unit of soldiers arranged so that together they form a square.
   - Simple: A group of soldiers standing in the shape of a square to defend on every side.
   - _The infantry formed a square as the horsemen charged._
   - _Napoleon's troops held their squares against repeated assaults._
25. The central area of a cricket field, containing one or more pitches, only one of which is in use at a time.
   - Simple: The central part of a cricket field that holds the playing strips, only one used at a time.
   - _Heavy rain left the square too soft for play._
   - _The curator prepared a fresh strip on the square for the test match._
28. A cigarette, the slim paper roll of tobacco that is lit and smoked. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A cigarette: a small roll of tobacco in paper that people smoke.
   - _Got a square? I left my pack in the car._
   - _The two of them stood by the loading dock, smoking squares and complaining about the boss._

## Adjective

2. Naming a unit of area equal to a particular unit of length multiplied by itself.
   - Simple: Used with a length unit to name a measure of area, such as a square foot.
   - _The wildfire burned across thousands of square kilometers of forest._
   - _Office rent here is calculated per square foot._
4. Having the form of a square, with four equal sides meeting at right angles.
   - Simple: Having the shape of a square, with four equal sides and right-angle corners.
   - _The architect designed a square courtyard at the heart of the building._
   - _The bathroom floor is covered in small square tiles, each two inches on a side._
13. Even or level, with accounts settled or scores tied.
   - Simple: Level and equal, with neither side ahead.
   - _Once she returned the favor, the two of them were square._
   - _Here's the twenty I owed you, so now we're square._
14. Honest, fair, and decent, especially in dealings with others.
   - Simple: Honest, fair, and good in the way you treat other people.
   - _She prided herself on being square in all her business dealings._
   - _If you want customers to trust you, be square with them about what the repair will cost._
15. Socially conventional or conservative; dull and out of touch with current trends. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Boring and old-fashioned, with no interest in new or popular things.
   - _The teenagers thought their parents were hopelessly square._
   - _He worried that his neat haircut made him look square to the others._
10. At right angles, or set true with every corner a right angle and nothing leaning.
   - Simple: Making a perfect corner, straight and not leaning.
   - _Keep the blade square to the wood so your cut comes out clean._
   - _Make sure the edges are square so the box closes properly._
11. Wide in relation to its height and angular rather than rounded in outline.
   - Simple: Wide for its height, made of straight lines instead of curves.
   - _Her square frame gave her a powerful, grounded presence._
   - _He was a short man with square shoulders and a thick neck, built like a wrestler._
19. Satisfied and comfortable with a situation, free of any inner conflict.
   - Simple: Feeling okay and comfortable with something, with no worries.
   - _At first he hated the idea of moving, but after talking it over with his family, he's square with it now._
   - _He's square with leaving the company on these terms._
27. In cricket, lying on a line level with the popping crease at the batsman's end of the pitch.
   - Simple: In cricket, level with the line in front of the stumps where the batsman stands.
   - _On that short boundary, anything hit square of the wicket was likely to go for four._
   - _With the umpire standing square, he had the best possible view of the run-out._

## Verb

8. To multiply a value, term, or expression by itself; to raise it to the second power.
   - Simple: To multiply a number by itself.
   - _To find the variance, you square each deviation from the mean._
   - _The formula squares the radius before multiplying by pi._
9. To take up a boxing or fighting stance, typically with the particle up or off.
   - Simple: To stand ready to fight, with your fists raised.
   - _The fighters squared off at the center of the ring._
   - _Drunk and angry, he tried to square up to a man twice his size._
12. To settle a matter, or to make two things agree, or to be consistent with something.
   - Simple: To settle a problem, or to make two things fit or agree with each other.
   - _He offered to pay for the broken window to square things with his neighbor._
   - _You should square things with your landlord before the dispute ends up in court._
20. To make something square, with straight sides and right angles.
   - Simple: To give something straight sides and square corners.
   - _Before building, you'll want to square the plot with string and a stake at each corner._
   - _Old-time builders squared logs with a broadaxe, turning round trunks into flat-sided beams._
23. To make a short, low pass sideways across the field to a teammate.
   - Simple: To pass the ball sideways to a teammate across the field.
   - _The winger squared the ball into the path of the onrushing forward._
   - _Instead of shooting, she chose to square it to a better-placed teammate._
26. To adjust something so that it lines up with, or sits at a right angle to, something else.
   - Simple: To move or change something so it lines up with something else or makes a right angle with it.
   - _Golf coaches tell beginners to square the clubface to the target before every swing._
   - _Before nailing the frame, the carpenter squared each corner with a framing tool._

## Adverb

17. Directly and straight on, right at the center or point of something.
   - Simple: Straight at something, in a direct way.
   - _The punch landed square on his jaw._
   - _She stared square at the camera without blinking._

## Noun

16. A conventional or conservative person who takes little or no interest in the latest fads or trends. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A person who is boring and not interested in new or popular things.
   - _The beatniks regarded him as a square who would never understand their poetry._
   - _She felt like a square among her fashionable new coworkers._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In astrology, the position of two planets that are ninety degrees apart from each other.
- (noun) In roofing, a unit of roof area equal to 100 square feet (9.29 square meters), often used in the US to bill roofing materials.
- (noun) A stitched or decorated panel that covered the chest of a gown in older women's fashion.
- (noun) A sweet treat cut into square or oblong pieces, or one such piece, as with lemon bars or brownies.
- (noun) A block of type lines in a newspaper column, roughly as deep as it is wide, used as a unit for pricing advertisements.
- (noun) An exact rule, measure, or model to be followed.
- (noun) A road that runs around the edge of a town plaza or open public space.
- (noun) In the study of strings, a sequence made of one block written twice in a row, such as "papa".
- (noun) A unit of floor area equal to a ten-by-ten-foot block, about 9.3 m², used in Australia when stating how big a home or its rooms are.
- (noun) A flat academic cap with a stiff board on top and a tassel, worn at graduations.
- (noun) Correct proportion, fairness, and order in how work is done or how one behaves.
- (noun) A state of balance, equality, or exact agreement.
- (noun) A dispute, or the act of falling out with someone.
- (noun) A large vessel in which beer is left to ferment.
- (noun) A torso whose shape is clearly defined, in London street slang.
- (adjective) Of a sailing ship's yards: braced at right angles to the mast and keel and level with the horizon.
- (adjective) Of a piston engine: having a bore about the same as its stroke.
- (verb) To brace a sailing ship's yards so they lie crosswise, perpendicular to the mast and keel.
- (verb) In rowing, to turn the oar blades upright before they enter the water.
- (verb) To construct, using only compass and straightedge, a figure with four equal sides and right angles whose area equals that of a given shape.
- (verb) To cover a surface or plane fully with squares, leaving no gaps.
- (verb) To fall out with someone and take the opposite side in a dispute.
- (verb) To test something against an agreed rule, or bring it into line with one.
- (verb) To lie ninety degrees, a quarter of the zodiac, away from another planet, as an astrological aspect.

## Origin

From Middle English square, from Old French esquarre (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, built from Latin ex- plus quadro, from quadrus. It is related to English quad and is a doublet of squad and squadra, and it displaced the Old English fēowerecge, meaning 'four-edged'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/square (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).