quash

American  

[kwosh] / kwɒʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to put down or suppress completely; quell; subdue.

   to quash a rebellion.

   Synonyms:

   repress, quench, squash, crush

2. to make void, annul, or set aside (a law, indictment, decision, etc.).

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quash British  

/ kwɒʃ /

verb

1. to subdue forcefully and completely; put down; suppress

2. to annul or make void (a law, decision, etc)

3. to reject (an indictment, writ, etc) as invalid

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Other Word Forms

• unquashed adjective

Etymology

Origin of quash

1300–50; Middle English quashen to smash, break, overcome, suppress < Old French quasser, in part < Latin quassāre to shake (frequentative of quatere to shake; cf. concussion); in part < Late Latin cassāre to annul, derivative of Latin cassus empty, void

Explanation

Quash means to put down, stop, extinguish, and it’s usually used to talk about ideas, feelings, or political movements. You wouldn’t quash a grape underfoot; you would squash it. But if you were a military dictator, you would quash a revolution. Quash is an extreme word. It comes from the French word for smash, or shatter. If something is quashed it is completely suppressed, usually by something or someone very powerful or authoritative. If you wrote a poem and asked your favorite teacher to read it, and that teacher tore it to pieces, then your hopes were most likely quashed.

Example Sentences

By her own recognition, that can establish a certain public perception - and it is something she is keen to quash after swapping Mediterranean life for a relegation battle in the East Midlands.

From BBC • Mar. 22, 2026

District Court for the District of Columbia—weighed in, mincing no words when agreeing to quash those subpoenas.

From Slate • Mar. 19, 2026

A Nixon energy advisor had to try to quash the “great myth” rumor that gas would hit — gasp — a dollar a gallon.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who opened the Powell probe, said she would challenge his decision to quash her subpoenas.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 17, 2026

Colonial governments, and later the United States, frequently deployed rangers to quash Indigenous resistance and displace Indigenous nations.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Related Words

• annul
• clamp down on
• crack down on
• invalidate
• overrule
• repeal
• rescind
• reverse
• revoke
• set aside
• squelch
• undo
• vacate
• veto
• void