Squeeze: A Grip, a Shortage, and Someone You Love
To squeeze is to press firmly. The noun covers financial pressure, a tight fit and, informally, a romantic partner.
To squeeze is to press something firmly from both sides. The figurative uses are the interesting ones: a *credit squeeze* is pressure on lending, a *tight squeeze* is a narrow fit, and someone's *main squeeze* is their partner — American slang from the jazz age that has never quite gone away.
- To press firmly. *Squeeze the lemon.*
- To force into a space. *Squeeze into the lift.*
- Financial pressure. *A squeeze on wages.*
- Main squeeze — a partner (informal). *He brought his main squeeze.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | squeeze | Squeeze gently. |
| Past | squeezed | Squeezed dry. |
| Noun | squeeze | A tight squeeze. |
| Adjective | squeezed | The squeezed middle. |
| Related | compress | Compress the file. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Squeeze the sponge out.Physical.
- A squeeze on household budgets.Economics.
- We squeezed six people into the car.Fitting into a space.
Squeeze in economics
- Credit squeeze — tighter lending conditions
- Profit squeeze — costs rising faster than prices
- Cost of living squeeze — incomes lagging prices
- Short squeeze — short sellers forced to buy as a price rises
- Squeezed middle — households too well off for support and too poor to feel comfortable
Probably an alteration of an older verb *quease*, to press. The doubled s at the start is an intensifying pattern English used with several words.
What is a short squeeze?
When investors betting a price will fall are forced to buy as it rises instead, which pushes the price up further.
Where does *main squeeze* come from?
American slang, recorded from the early twentieth century, first meaning the most important person and later a romantic partner.