squash Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of numerous annual trailing plants of the genus Cucurbita grown for their fleshy edible fruits
    squash vine.
  2. noun edible fruit of a squash plant; eaten as a vegetable
  3. noun a game played in an enclosed court by two or four players who strike the ball with long-handled rackets
    squash rackets; squash racquets.
  4. verb to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition
    crush; squelch; squeeze; mash.
    • crush an aluminum can
    • squeeze a lemon

WordNet

Squash noun
Etymology
Cf. Musquash.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) An American animal allied to the weasel. Obs. Goldsmith.
Squash noun
Etymology
Massachusetts Indian asq, pl. asquash, raw, green, immaturate, applied to fruit and vegetables which were used when green, or without cooking; askutasquash vine apple.
Definitions
  1. (Bot.) A plant and its fruit of the genus Cucurbita, or gourd kind. ✍ The species are much confused. The long-neck squash is called Cucurbita verrucosa, the Barbary or China squash, C. moschata, and the great winter squash, C. maxima, but the distinctions are not clear.
Squash transitive verb
Etymology
OE. squashen, OF. escachier, esquachier, to squash, to crush, F. écacher, perhaps from (assumed) LL. excoacticare, fr. L. ex + coactare to constrain, from cogere, coactum, to compel. Cf. Cogent, Squat, v. i.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Squashed ; present participle & verbal noun Squashing
Definitions
  1. To beat or press into pulp or a flat mass; to crush.
Squash noun
Definitions
  1. Something soft and easily crushed; especially, an unripe pod of pease.
    Not yet old enough for a man, nor young enough for a boy; as a squash is before 't is a peascod. Shak.
  2. Hence, something unripe or soft; -- used in contempt. "This squash, this gentleman." Shak.
  3. A sudden fall of a heavy, soft body; also, a shock of soft bodies. Arbuthnot.
    My fall was stopped by a terrible squash. Swift.

Webster 1913