squeeze

squeeze¹ [skwi:z] v

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

1¦(press)¦

2¦(press out liquid)¦

3¦(small space)¦

4 squeeze your eyes shut

5¦(just succeed)¦

6¦(limit money)¦

Phrasal verbs

　squeeze somebody/something<=>in

　squeeze something<=>out

　squeeze up

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

[Date: 1500-1600; Origin: quease 'to press, squeeze' (15-17 centuries), from Old English cwysan]

1.) ¦(PRESS)¦ [T]

to press something firmly together with your fingers or hand

▪ She smiled as he squeezed her hand.

▪ He squeezed the trigger, but nothing happened.

2.) ¦(PRESS OUT LIQUID)¦ [T]

to get liquid from something by pressing it

▪ Squeeze the oranges.

squeeze sth out

▪ Try to squeeze a bit more out.

squeeze sth on/onto sth

▪ Squeeze a bit of lemon juice onto the fish.

3.) ¦(SMALL SPACE)¦ [I,T always + adverb/preposition]

to try to make something fit into a space that is too small, or to try to get into such a space

= ↑squash squeeze into

▪ Five of us squeezed into the back seat.

squeeze through/past

▪ He had squeezed through a gap in the fence.

squeeze sb/sth in

▪ We could probably squeeze in a few more people.

4.) squeeze your eyes shut

to close your eyes very tightly

5.) ¦(JUST SUCCEED)¦ [I always + adverb/preposition]

to succeed, win, or pass a test by a very small amount so that you only just avoid failure

▪ Greece just squeezed through into the next round.

6.) ¦(LIMIT MONEY)¦ [T]

to strictly limit the amount of money that is available to a company or organization

▪ The government is squeezing the railways' investment budget.

squeeze in [squeeze sb/sth<=>in] phr vto manage to do something although you are very busy

▪ How do you manage to squeeze so much into one day?

▪ I can squeeze you in at four o'clock.

squeeze out [squeeze sth<=>out] phr v

1.) to do something so that someone or something is no longer included or able to continue

▪ If budgets are cut, vital research may be squeezed out.

2.) to squeeze something wet in order to remove the liquid from it

▪ Squeeze the cloth out first.

3.) squeeze sth out of sb

to force someone to tell you something

▪ See if you can squeeze more information out of them.

squeeze up phr v

to move close to the person next to you to make space for someone else

squeeze ²

squeeze² n

1.) a (tight) squeeze

a situation in which there is only just enough room for things or people to fit somewhere

▪ It'll be a squeeze with six people in the car.

2.) an act of pressing something firmly with your fingers or hand

▪ Marty gave her hand a little squeeze .

3.) squeeze of lemon/lime etc

a small amount of juice obtained by squeezing a piece of fruit

4.) a situation in which wages, prices, borrowing money etc are strictly controlled or reduced

squeeze on

▪ cuts due to the squeeze on public sector spending

▪ a credit squeeze

▪ All manufacturers are feeling the squeeze (=noticing the effects of a difficult financial situation) .

5.) put the squeeze on sb informal

to try to persuade someone to do something

6.) sb's (main) squeeze

especially AmE informal someone's ↑boyfriend or ↑girlfriend