Quashed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Declared null or void by a court or official authority ; forcibly ended or suppressed to prevent continuation
2. Overturned or annulled through legal or formal decision ; stopped or crushed by exerting power or influence
3. Invalidated or set aside by a ruling or authoritative act ; quelled or extinguished by strong intervention

Etymology: "Quashed" is the past tense of "quash," and the verb began as a physical act. Its Latin ancestor, "quassare," meant to shake violently or break to pieces, and it reached English through Old French "quasser," which kept the sense of smashing or crushing. Middle English speakers used it for shattering things, and its German and Dutch relatives still carry that idea: "quetschen" means to squash or crush, and "kwetsen" means to hurt or injure. The legal sense came from a different direction. Latin "cassare," meaning to annul or make void, was close enough in sound and use that it pulled "quash" toward the idea of cancelling something by decree. So a verb for crushing a physical object was reshaped into one for voiding a judgment, and a court that quashes a conviction is, in a sense, still smashing something, only now a legal decision rather than a jar or a rebellion.

Synonyms: suppressed, cancelled, overturned, annulled, repealed

Antonyms: validated, upheld, approved, endorsed, confirmed