Squeezing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Applying firm pressure to compress or extract something ; forcing or pushing an object into a narrow or tight area
2. Using pressure to press or compact something so it changes shape or releases contents ; inserting or fitting an item tightly into a limited space
3. Exerting strong force to crush or wring something in order to change its form or remove fluid ; compelling something to fit within a confined or restricted area

Etymology: Squeezing is the present participle of "squeeze", and the verb's own history is murkier than its everyday sense suggests. The earliest forms were "squize" and "squise", first attested around 1600, but their origin is uncertain. They probably descend from the older verb "quease", recorded since 1550, which came from Middle English "queisen" and Old English "cwȳsan", meaning "to crush" or "squeeze". That Old English root may be imitative, a sound made to match the act of pressing. A rival theory links the word to an obsolete verb "squiss", which also gave us "squash" and "squish", blended with "quease". The word's most surprising extension is a figure of speech. "To put the squeeze on" someone, meaning to exert pressure or influence, dates from 1711. The phrase "main squeeze", meaning one's most important person, appears from 1896, and it took on the sense of a sweetheart or lover only in the 1970s.

Synonyms: pressing, compressing, squeezing, crushing, wringing

Antonyms: releasing, loosing, spreading, opening, unclenching