[ad. OF. esquasser (escasser), esquacer (escacier), = It. squassare:—pop.L. *ex-quassāre: see QUASH v. In some senses, however, perhaps partly or mainly of imitative origin.]
1. trans. To squeeze, press or crush into a flat mass or pulp; to beat to, or dash in, pieces, etc. Also with preps., as in, to.
1565. Stapleton, trans. Bede’s Hist. Ch. Eng., 61. Ye must, I saye, teare them, rent them, and squashe them to peeces.
1579–80. North, Plutarch (1895), III. 350. But the top of the gallery fell downe apon the boyes that were left, and squashed them all to death.
1601. Holland, Pliny, I. 289. The hennes … hide themselues from their males the cocks; for … they would squash their egs.
1622. Mabbe, trans. Aleman’s Guzman d’Alf., II. 277. Squashing and beating them vpon some stone,… shee made our cloathes reasonable white.
1670. Evelyn, Sylva (ed. 2), ix. 58. Note, that in sowing the Berry ’tis good to squash and bruise them with fine siefted Mould.
1726. Swift, Gulliver, II. i. One of the reapers … made me apprehend that … I should be squashed to death under his foot.
1806. J. Beresford, Miseries Hum. Life, II. xxvi. In shuffling the cards,… squashing them together, breaking their edges [etc.].
1827. Hare, Guesses (1859), 144. There have indeed been … men who have piled such a load of books on their heads, their brains have seemed to be squasht by them.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 327. There were eight elephants killed that day, but three burst through everything,… squashing two men and a baby.
fig. 1613. trans. Mexio’s Treas. Anc. & Mod. Times, 24/1. More cleerly will we yet reueale their grosse absurditie, and … squash in pieces their unexcusable error.
1863. Kingsley, Water-bab., 60. Between crinolines and theories, some of us would get squashed.
b. With advs., as down, up.
1611. Cotgr., Escraser, to squash downe, beat flat.
1698. T. Froger, Voy., 105. A sort of wrought lime, which being squashed down upon the bridge … has a most terrible effect.
1893. Earl Dunmore, Pamirs, II. 320. I was not able to accompany my host, but had to be squashed up in the crowd.
c. To quash; to suppress or put down; to undo or destroy in a complete or summary manner.
Also, in recent colloq. use, to silence, discomfit or repress (a person) in a very decisive or crushing way.
1762. Foote, Orator, II. I therefore humbly move to squash this indictment.
1850. Kingsley, A. Locke, xviii. I, to squash my convictions, to stultify my book for the sake of popularity, money, patronage!
1852. Bristed, Five Yrs. Eng. Univ. (ed. 2), 258. The report spread that I had broken down completely, or, as a Johnian elegantly expressed it, was squashed.
1895. Law Times, XCVIII. 280/2. The Pharmaceutical Society made a strenuous attempt to squash the Stores as vendors of drugs.
† 2. a. To press or squeeze out. Obs. rare.
1599. T. M[oufet], Silkwormes, 59. Now squashing out their bellies soft and round.
1600. Holland, Livy, 372. The battalions troden under foot and their guts squashed out.
† b. To splash or dash (water) upon a person; to wet by splashing. Obs. rare.
a. 1602–3. Q. Eliz., in I. H. Jeayes, Catal. Charters Berkeley Castle (1892), 323. I somewhat still doute that ther hath bene to greate abundance of the same [i.e. water] squasshed upon you.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, 321. Squash, v., to splash; to moisten by plentiful affusion.
3. intr. To emit or make a splashing sound; to move, walk, etc., in this way; to splash.
1671. Salmon, Syn. Med., I. lv. 142. Ascites is when much Water is heaped up between the Peritoneum and the Bowels, so that when it is struck it doth squash as it were.
1839. Hood, Ode to St. Swithin, vii. Why upon snow-white tablecloths and sheets … Come squashing?
1859. Dickens, T. Two Cities, I. ii. Once more, the Dover mail struggled on, with the Jack-boots of its passengers squashing along by its side.
1893. Outing, XXII. 139/1. Our feet ‘squashing’ as we step, for our boots are full of rain-water.
4. To be pressed into a flat mass on impact; to flatten out under pressure.
Cf. Florio’s use of squashing ppl. a. (quot. 1611 below).
1858. Greener, Gunnery, 121. Some other mixtures … sufficiently strong to resist all tendency to squash; as the softer metals would inevitably do.
1893. A. Hill, in Scribner’s Mag., June, 710/1. There must be the most skilful handling, lest the load ‘squash out’ or logs rolled up go over the load.
Hence Squashed ppl. a.; Squasher; Squashing vbl. sb. and ppl. a.
1598. Florio, Squaccio, a squashing, a hauocke. Ibid. (1611), Squala,… a kind of soft squashing Hazle-nut.
1611. Cotgr., Quasseur, a squasher, breaker. Ibid., Escrasement, a crushing flat, a squashing downe.
1857. Dickens, Dorrit, ix. Such squashed hats and bonnets … never were seen in Rag Fair.
1865. S. Ferguson, Forging of Anchor, ii. A hailing fount of fire is struck at every squashing blow.
