v.
- firmly press from opposite or all sides, typically with the fingers.
▸extract (liquid or a soft substance) from something by squeezing.
-
(squeeze in/into/through)
manage to get into or through (a restricted space).
▸
(squeeze someone/thing in)
manage to find time for someone or something.
-
(usu. squeeze something out of/from)
obtain from someone with difficulty.
▸informal pressurize (someone) to supply something.
▸
(squeeze someone/thing out)
force someone or something out of an activity or post.
▸have a damaging or restricting effect on:
the economy is being squeezed by foreign debt repayments.
▸Bridge force (an opponent) to discard a guarding or potentially winning card.
-
(squeeze something off)
informal shoot a round or shot from a gun.
▸take a photograph.
n.
- an act of squeezing or the state of being squeezed.
▸dated a crowded social gathering.
- a hug.
- a small amount of liquid extracted by squeezing.
- a strong financial demand or pressure.
▸informal money illegally extorted or exacted from someone.
- a moulding or cast of an object, or a copy of a design, obtained by pressing a pliable substance round or over it.
-
(often main squeeze)
N. Amer. informal a person's girlfriend or boyfriend.
- Bridge a tactic that forces an opponent to discard an important card.
-
(also squeeze play)
Baseball an act of hitting a ball short to the infield to enable a runner on third base to start for home as soon as the ball is pitched.
Phrase
- put the squeeze on
informal coerce or pressurize.
Derivative
- squeezable adj.
- squeezer n.
Etymology
C16: from earlier squise, from obs. queise, of unknown origin.