squelch

[ skwelch ]

verb (used with object)

1. to strike or press with crushing force; crush down; squash.
2. to put down, suppress, or silence, as with a crushing retort or argument.

verb (used without object)

1. to make a splashing sound.
2. to tread heavily in water, mud, wet shoes, etc., with such a sound.

noun

1. a squelched or crushed mass of anything.
2. a splashing sound.
3. an act of squelching or suppressing, as by a crushing retort or argument.
4. Also called squelch circuit, Electronics. a circuit in a receiver, as a radio receiver, that automatically reduces or eliminates noise when the receiver is tuned to a frequency at which virtually no carrier wave occurs.

squelch

/ skwɛltʃ /

verb

1. intr to walk laboriously through soft wet material or with wet shoes, making a sucking noise
2. intr to make such a noise
3. tr to crush completely; squash
4. informal.
   tr to silence, as by a crushing retort

noun

1. a squelching sound
2. something that has been squelched
3. electronics a circuit that cuts off the audio-frequency amplifier of a radio receiver in the absence of an input signal, in order to suppress background noise
4. informal.
   a crushing remark

Derived Forms

• ˈsquelching, adjective
• ˈsquelcher, noun
• ˈsquelchy, adjective

Other Words From

• squelcher noun
• squelching·ly adverb
• squelching·ness noun
• un·squelched adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of squelch¹

1610–20; variant of quelch in same sense (perhaps blend of quell and quash ); initial s perhaps from squash ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of squelch¹

C17: of imitative origin

Example Sentences

This goes back to America’s strata of wealthy enslavers who used white privilege as an incentive to squelch labor unrest among white males by giving them a group to dominate.

From Salon

Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google acted illegally to squelch competition in its online search business.

From BBC

California legislators have passed a milestone law requiring schools to devise plans to restrict or ban student cellphone use on campus, aiming to squelch classroom distractions and harmful social media use.

From Los Angeles Times

In “Mother Play,” a Second Stage world premiere at Broadway’s Hayes Theater, Lange is taking on another maternal quagmire: Phyllis, an alcoholic mother raising on her own two children, whose queer identities she would like to squelch.

From Los Angeles Times

Prosecutors say Trump and his allies mounted a campaign to purchase and squelch potentially embarrassing stories, and cover up those payments in an illegal effort to influence voters in the waning weeks before the 2016 presidential election, particularly as Republicans grew concerned over potential fallout from the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without their permission.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• crush
• extinguish
• muffle
• oppress
• repress
• smother
• squash
• stifle
• thwart