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Origin and history of squish

squish(v.)

"squeeze, squash," 1640s, probably a variant of squash (v.), perhaps by influence of obsolete squiss "to squeeze or crush" (1550s). Related: Squished; squishing.

also from 1640s

Entries linking to squish

squash(v.)

"to crush, squeeze," early 14c., squachen, from Old French esquacher, variant of esquasser, escasser, escachier "to crush, shatter, destroy, break," from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex "out" (see ex-) + quassare "to shatter" (see quash "to crush").

Perhaps it has been partly conformed to quash (v.). "In some senses, however, perhaps partly or mainly of imitative origin" [OED]. English squ- words of more or less imitative origin sometimes have echoes in qu- : squelch/quelch, quag and obsolete squagen "make a stain or smudge" (c. 1500). Related: Squashed; squashing.

squishy(adj.)

"soft and wet," 1847, from squish + -y (2). Related: Squishily; squishiness.

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    splash
    1715 (intransitive), "dabble about in water or some other liquid;" 1722 (transitive), "spatter," probably an alteration of plash with an intensive s-. Related: Splashed; splashing. Splash-board, to protect the occupants of a vehicle from splashing of the horse's feet, is attested
    slop
    c. 1400, "mudhole, puddle," probably from Old English -sloppe "dung" (in plant name cusloppe, literally "cow dung"), related to slyppe "slime" (from PIE root *sleubh- "to slide, slip"). The meaning "semi-liquid food" is by 1650s; that of "refuse liquid of any kind, household liqu
    squeeze
    It perhaps also has been altered by influence of many words of similar sound and related sense (squash, squat, squish, squirt...
    noise
    c. 1200, "sound of a musical instrument;" mid-13c., "loud speech, outcry, clamor, shouting;" c. 1300, "a sound of any kind from any source," especially a loud and disagreeable sound, from Old French noise "din, disturbance, uproar, brawl" (11c., in modern French only in phrase ch
    pad
    1550s, "bundle of straw to lie on," a word of obscure origin (perhaps a merger of several separate words), possibly from or related to Low German or obsolete Flemish pad "sole of the foot," which is perhaps from PIE *pent- "to tread, go" (see find (v.)), but see path (n.). Sense
    dap
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    blackmail
    1550s, "tribute paid to men allied with criminals as protection against pillage, etc.," from black (adj.) + Middle English male "rent, tribute." This is from Old English mal "lawsuit, terms, bargaining, agreement," from Old Norse mal "speech, agreement;" related to Old English mæ
    calendar
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    promise
    c. 1400, promisse, "a solemn pledge; a vow; a declaration in reference to the future made by one person to another, assuring the latter that the former will do, or not do, a specified act," from Old French promesse "promise, guarantee, assurance" (13c.) and directly from Latin pr
    debate
    late 14c., "to quarrel, dispute," also "to combat, fight, make war" (senses now archaic), also "discuss, deliberate upon the pros and cons of," from Old French debatre (13c., Modern French débattre), originally "to fight," from de- "down, completely" (see de-) + batre "to beat,"

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