squeeze

Formssqueezes, squeezing, squeezed

Pluralsqueezes

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To press in on something from two or more sides at the same time, as when gripping it in a hand.

   He squeezed the stress ball under his desk whenever the meeting ran long.

   Squeeze the lime over the tacos just before serving.

   Similarpress, grip, compress, pinch, clutch

   Oppositerelease

   Note

   Pressure from two sides at once is the core image, and the word behind it is fairly young. It was earlier squize or squise, first recorded around 1600, with dialect relatives squizzen and squeege, and its origin beyond that is uncertain. Out marks what the pressure yields, as when Virginia Woolf's painter in Jacob's Room (1922) is squeezing out raw sienna. The past tense is squeezed; squoze exists but is nonstandard.

2. 2
   verbtransitive or intransitive

   To fit into a tight or narrow place, often with some effort.

   Commuters squeeze into the train car shoulder to shoulder during rush hour.

   She squeezed through the gap between the bookcase and the wall.

   Similarcram, crowd, pack, jam, wedge

   Note

   It works with or without an object: you can squeeze the car into a space, squeeze yourself through a crowd, or simply squeeze through a gap. A preposition of passage such as into, through or between almost always follows. Things can do it as well as people. In Sam Sheringham's 2010 BBC match report, a through-ball squeezes between two defenders.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To embrace someone closely; to give a tight hug.

   She ran across the platform to squeeze her brother after his long deployment.

   He squeezed his daughter goodbye at the school gate every morning.

   Similarhug, embrace, clasp

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A hug or other affectionate grasp, such as a press of the hand or shoulder.

   She greeted each arriving guest with a warm squeeze at the door.

   A reassuring squeeze of his shoulder told him he wasn't alone.

   Similarhug, embrace, clasp, cuddle

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A single act of applying pressure to something from two or more sides.

   With a gentle squeeze, he tested whether the avocado was ripe.

   Each squeeze of the hand pump sent water spraying across the garden.

   Similarpress, pinch, grip, clutch

6. 6
   nouncountable

   A close or tight fit, especially in a confined space.

   Parking downtown was a squeeze, with barely an inch of clearance on either side.

   The crawl space under the house was a tight squeeze even for the smallest technician.

   Similarcrush, squash

7. 7
   nounfigurativelycountable

   A difficult position, especially one in which someone is under pressure from multiple sides.

   Rising costs and falling sales put the company in a squeeze by midyear.

   Caught in a squeeze between his boss's demands and his family's needs, he finally quit.

   Similarbind, fix, jam, spot, predicament

   Note

   Pressure on a limited supply is the typical use, and the noun usually takes on: a squeeze on time, on money or, in Kate Murray's 2016 article, on NHS resources. Economics has its own compounds, credit squeeze and profit squeeze. Tight squeeze crosses over from the literal close fit, so a tight squeeze can describe a cramped seat or a crowded calendar.

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To get something out of a person or thing when doing so is difficult or seems difficult.

   Detectives finally squeezed a confession out of the suspect after hours of questioning.

   The accountant managed to squeeze a few more dollars out of the travel budget.

   Similarextract, wring, wrest, force, coax

9. 9
   verbtransitive

   To put someone in a hard position by forcing them to choose between two or more options.

   Lenders squeezed the company by demanding either immediate repayment or steep new fees.

   Rising rents squeeze young families into choosing between smaller apartments and longer commutes.

   Similarpressure, corner, pinch

   Note

   The pressure here comes from rival demands. The sense is most at home in the passive, with the sides spelled out: squeezed between a job and volunteer work, or squeezed from both sides. Sarah Lyall's 2013 report on Mr. Cameron names both sides, his own party on the right and his coalition partners on the left. That two-sided shape is what the word needs.

10. 10
    verbfigurativelytransitive

    To make people's lives difficult through harassment or by imposing hardships, burdens, or taxes.

    The empire squeezed its provinces for tribute until rebellion broke out.

    Corrupt officials continued to squeeze merchants with arbitrary fines and inspection fees.

    Similaroppress, bleed, milk, fleece, exploit

    Note

    Here the pressure is steady and extractive rather than a single dilemma. Roger L'Estrange already used it this way in 1692, pairing it with crush for people "crush'd and squeez'd" by civil war. A live idiom carries it today: to squeeze every penny of profit from something, as Christian Wolmar writes of a canal owner in 2025.

Showing meanings only. Show all 21