squeeze

verb

1. 1

   To apply pressure (to something) from two or more sides at once.

   I squeezed the ball between my hands.

   Please don't squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle.

   "Over there—by the rock," Steele muttered, with his brush between his teeth, squeezing out raw sienna, and keeping his eyes fixed on Betty Flanders's back.

   Start squeezing gently, without moving the bag at first (to form a wide base for the stem), then raise the bag as you squeeze. Continue to raise the bag after you’ve stopped squeezing, to form a tall point.

2. 2

   To embrace closely; to give a tight hug to.

3. 3

   To fit into a tight place.

   I managed to squeeze the car into that parking space.

   Can you squeeze through that gap?

   I squeezed myself through the crowd.

   It was an omen of things to come as in the 56th minute the visitors took the lead after a mix-up between Skrtel and Sotirios Kyrgiakos allowed Ebanks-Blake's through-ball to squeeze between them.

4. 4

   To remove something with difficulty, or apparent difficulty.

   He squeezed some money out of his wallet.

5. 5

   To barely manage to.

   I managed to squeeze through the exam with a D.

6. 6

   To put in a difficult position by presenting two or more choices.

   I'm being squeezed between my job and my volunteer work.

   At a time when Mr. Cameron is being squeezed from both sides — from the right by members of his own party and by the anti-immigrant, anti-Europe U.K. Independence Party, and from the left by his Liberal Democrat coalition partners — the move seemed uncharacteristically clunky.

7. 7

   figurativeTo oppress with hardships, burdens, or taxes; to harass.

   a Civil War where People must expect to be crush'd and squeez'd in the Consequence

   However he lost out, as other business interests whom he had alienated by his efforts to squeeze every penny of profit from the canal, supported the construction of the railway.

8. 8

   To attempt to score a runner from third by bunting.

   Jones squeezed in Smith with a perfect bunt.

noun

1. 1

   An instance of squeezing.

   to give something a squeeze

   Dip your sponge into the water, tehn turn it over and dip it again. That gets both sides wet. Now give it a squeeze to get most of the water out—but not all of it! You'll get the feel of how much water you need in your sponge as you practice with the clay.

2. 2

   A close or tight fit.

3. 3

   figurativeA difficult position.

   I'm in a tight squeeze right now when it comes to my free time.

   There is a growing recognition that, as the population ages and the squeeze on NHS resources continues, better ways of supporting older people outside hospital need to be developed.

4. 4

   A hug or other affectionate grasp.

   a gentle squeeze on the arm

5. 5

   slangA romantic partner.

   I want to be your main squeeze.

   “No, Mona. Her new squeeze is one of Wage's boys.”

   He spent nights cruising queer bars near the pad, saw Wiltsie at the dives, but always in the company of his squeeze, a guy he called 'Duane.'

   His young squeeze had just backed out and had not seen the assault on her “sugar daddy” when it happened!

6. 6

   slangAn illicit alcoholic drink made by squeezing Sterno through cheesecloth, etc., and mixing the result with fruit juice.

7. 7

   The act of bunting in an attempt to score a runner from third.

   The game ended in exciting fashion with a failed squeeze.

8. 8

   A play that forces an opponent to discard a card that gives up one or more tricks.

9. 9

   A traversal of a narrow passage.

   It was a tight squeeze, but I got through to the next section of the cave.

   The most notorious squeezes have names: the Gun Barrel, Jam Crack, the Electric Armpit Crawl, Devil's Pinch.

   Prior to going back out to Mystery Cave again we spent a lot of time preparing. We made a squeeze box, which is a wooden box the opening of which can be adjusted in size. We could then crawl through the opening and measure to see how tight of a squeeze we could fit through.

10. 10

    A moulding, cast or other impression of an object, chiefly a design, inscription etc., especially by pressing wet paper onto the surface and peeling off when dry.

    Nollekens, finding his wife always benefited by these visits, never refused White a squeeze of a patera, or any thing that would answer his purpose; […] White […] had turned his wine-cellars into manufactories for the produce of cast coins, and moderns squeezes from Roman lamps.

11. 11

    The gradual closing of workings by the weight of the overlying strata.

12. 12

    datedThe situation experienced by a middleman when pressured from both sides, especially financially.

    Thus was established a powerful Chinese combination, which maintained itself by submitting to a heavy "squeeze" at the hands of the Viceroy and Governor of Canton on the one hand and of the Hoppo on the other.

13. 13

    datedA bribe, fee, or extortionary price paid to a middleman, especially in China; the practice of requiring such a bribe or fee.

    If the licence […] was costly, it secured to them uninterrupted and extraordinary pecuniary advantages; but on the other hand it subjected them to 'calls' or 'squeezes' for contributions to public works, […] for the relief of districts suffering from scarcity […] as well as for the often imaginary […] damage caused by the overflowing of the 'Yangtse Keang' or the 'Yellow River.'

    The mattress shop had been bought with the proceeds of squeeze obtained by him from a former American employer.

    They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect.

14. 14

    obsoleteA person's neck.

    "Got his description putty close: Short black 'air, black whiskers, with a crips^([sic]) curl at the hedges; a white choker, tight round his squeeze; dressed in black, and orful hugly," remarked the policeman.

Forms

plural

squeezes

past tense

squeezed, squoze

past participle

squeezed, squoze, squozen

present participle

squeezing

third person singular

squeezes