squeeze
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
7 characters
Language
English
word origin
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Detailed reference entry for the English word "squeeze", 7-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "squeeze" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "squeeze" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
squeeze is aEnglishverb. It means: To apply pressure to from two or more sides at once. Pronounced /skwiːz/. It ranks #7,852 in English word frequency. Often confused with sneeze.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | squeeze |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /skwiːz/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #7,852 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for squeeze is 7 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /skwiːz/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,852 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 9 documented wrong-spelling variants for squeeze, with forms such as "qsueeze", "sqeueze", and "sqqueeze". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "sneeze", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 Eng… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is squeeze, spelled S-Q-U-E-E-Z-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
Definition
- 1To apply pressure to from two or more sides at once.
- 2To embrace closely; to give a tight hug to.
- 3To fit into a tight place.
- 4To remove something with difficulty, or apparent difficulty.
- 5To put in a difficult position by presenting two or more choices.
- 6To oppress with hardships, burdens, or taxes; to harass.
- 7To attempt to score a runner from third by bunting.
Etymology
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.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: qsueeze,sqeueze,sqqueeze,squeeez,squeezze,squeze,squezee,ssqueeze,suqeeze
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for squeeze
Misspelling Variants of "squeeze"
Frequency rank: #7,852 in English
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Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index: