squeeze

Origin: From earlier squize, squise (whence also dialectal English squizzen and squeege), first attested around 1600, further origin ; probably an alteration of quease (which is attested since 1550), from , from , itself also of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare , to squeeze, bruise, crush; quell, , ). Or, a of obsolete to squeeze (whence also squash and squish) with quease. Compare also from . The slang expression "to put the squeeze on (someone or something)", meaning "to exert influence", is from 1711. The baseball term "squeeze play" is first recorded 1905. "Main squeeze" ("most import. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).