Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to squish
Participle: squished
Gerund: squishing
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | squish |
| you | squish |
| he;she;it | squishes |
| we | squish |
| you | squish |
| they | squish |
Perfect
| I | have squished |
| you | have squished |
| he;she;it | has squished |
| we | have squished |
| you | have squished |
| they | have squished |
Past
| I | squished |
| you | squished |
| he;she;it | squished |
| we | squished |
| you | squished |
| they | squished |
Pluperfect
| I | had squished |
| you | had squished |
| he;she;it | had squished |
| we | had squished |
| you | had squished |
| they | had squished |
Future
| I | will squish |
| you | will squish |
| he;she;it | will squish |
| we | will squish |
| you | will squish |
| they | will squish |
Future Perfect
| I | will have squished |
| you | will have squished |
| he;she;it | will have squished |
| we | will have squished |
| you | will have squished |
| they | will have squished |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | squish |
| you | squish |
| he;she;it | squish |
| we | squish |
| you | squish |
| they | squish |
Perfect
| I | have squished |
| you | have squished |
| he;she;it | have squished |
| we | have squished |
| you | have squished |
| they | have squished |
Imperfect
| I | squished |
| you | squished |
| he;she;it | squished |
| we | squished |
| you | squished |
| they | squished |
Pluperfect
| I | had squished |
| you | had squished |
| he;she;it | had squished |
| we | had squished |
| you | had squished |
| they | had squished |
Conditional
Present
| I | would squish |
| you | would squish |
| he;she;it | would squish |
| we | would squish |
| you | would squish |
| they | would squish |
Perfect
| I | would have squished |
| you | would have squished |
| he;she;it | would have squished |
| we | would have squished |
| you | would have squished |
| they | would have squished |
Imperative
| you | squish |
| we | Let's squish |
| you | squish |
Verbs conjugated like 'squish'
abash,
abolish,
abroach,
accomplish,
accroach,
address,
admix,
admonish,
ado,
adpress,
affamish,
affix,
alloo,
amass,
ambush,
anguish,
annex,
appeach,
appears,
approach, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'squish'
squash,
sqush,
squush,
quash,
quich,
shush,
slish,
slush,
smush,
splish,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to press or squeeze together; to make more dense
- astringe, compact, compactify, condense, densitize, mash, pack, press, scrunch, smush, squash, squeeze, squoosh, compress, thring, thrutch
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. Apparently an alteration of squash, influenced by obsolete squiss (“to squeeze”). Cognate with Scots squische, squies (“to crush, squeeze”). Compare also French esquicher, from Old Occitan esquichar (“to squeeze, squish”). See also squeeze and squelch. The noun is derived from the verb.
2. The linguistic noun sense 4 was coined in 1972 by the American poet and linguist John R. Ross (1938–2025): see the quotation.
3. Noun sense 5 (“a non-romantic and generally non-sexual infatuation”) was formed by analogy with crush and possibly smash, both of which have senses as types of compression as well as types of attraction. It was possibly first attested in 1999 (see the quotation) and then later coined or recoined in 2007 by the user Raisin on the forums of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network as "a milder synonym for the word 'crush'". The term was also used with a similar meaning in a 1997 episode of the TV show Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, though the 2007 coining or recoining was apparently independent. See: French '
esquicher', Old Occitan '
esquichar'.
Sample Sentences
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The sandwich tasted fine, even though it had got squished in his lunchbox.
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It hadn't rained for a few days, and the water in the ditch had been stagnant long enough for insect larvae to hatch. One landed on her nose, and she squished it before flicking it away from her finger. [2008, Robert Muchamore, “Trek”, in The Sleepwalker (CHERUB; 9), London: Hodder Children’s Books, →ISBN, page 90:]
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Rather than squishing everything into a tiny window, I have shown only part of my app. [2012, Adam Freeman, “Responding to Layout Changes in Code”, in Metro Revealed: Building Windows 8 Apps with XAML and C# (The Expert’s Voice in Windows 8), →ISBN, chapter 4 (Layouts and Tiles), page 57:]
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If you see aphids on your broad beans, don’t panic. Don’t squish or spray immediately, but sit back and see what happens. [2017, Kate Bradbury, “Where to Start: Creating Wildlife Habitats”, in The Wildlife Gardener: Creating a Haven for Birds, Bees and Butterflies, Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword White Owl, →ISBN, page 51, column 2:]
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I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes on the soft moss. It felt amazing as it squished between my toes, cool and mushy. [2013, Julia Crane, Talia Jager, chapter 7, in Broken Promise (A Between Worlds Novel; 2), [Clarksville, Tenn.]: Valknut Press, →ISBN:]
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His clothes were dripping wet and his shoes squished with every step. [1957, Harvey Weiss, A Gondola for Fun, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, →LCCN, →OCLC:]
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Annie gripped the notebook like a lance and hurried out the door. Annie Laurance-Darling off to war! But she did wish her shoes would stop squishing as she walked. [1988, Carolyn G. Hart, “Mid-morning Monday”, in Honeymoon with Murder (A Death on Demand Mystery; 4), large print edition, Waterville, Me.: Thorndike Press, →ISBN, page 290:]
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My clothes still haven’t dried from the last time we went swimming. I haven’t been dry since my plane from Phoenix landed. My socks never stop squishing and my underwear chafes. [2010, Greg van Eekhout, chapter 11, in Kid vs. Squid, New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, page 107:]
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LIKE A DUCK—Soaked to the point of not caring, this waterlogged pedestrian squishes his way across a downtown street. [1952 July 9, “5.60 Inches of Rain Set New Record […]”, in The Sun, final edition, volume 231, number 45, Baltimore, Md.: A. S. Abell Company, →OCLC, page 32, column 3:]
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We squished down a rutted lane, side-stepped a herd of cows, and eventually found an explanatory plaque. [1961, Muriel Beadle, chapter 4, in These Ruins Are Inhabited, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 50:]
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About two miles up the steep hill that rises above this village, muddy water gushed through tents and small children dressed in light clothing squished around barefoot. [1998 September 29, Jane Perlez, “For Kosovo Refugees, a Grim Augur of Winter”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2015:]
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“On your left!” a rider yelled, tires squishing through the ooze. [2007 November 30, Stephen Regenold, “Cyclocross: Mud, Sweat and Gears”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Sep 2013:]
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Taking soil samples is time-consuming, tedious work. Drive for hours. Walk for hours. Bushwhack. Squish around in bogs. Gather a spoonful of dirt. Do it all again. [2022 July 27, Somini Sengupta, Tomás Munita, “Unearthing the Secret Superpowers of Fungus”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 28 Jul 2022:]