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square

noun

a rectangle having all four sides of equal length.

anything having this form or a form approximating it, as a city block, rectangular piece of candy, etc.

an open area or plaza in a city or town, formed by the meeting or intersecting of two or more streets and often planted with grass, trees, etc., in the center.

a rectangularly shaped area on a game board, as in chess or checkers.

a try square, T square, or the like.

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Mathematics.

the second power of a quantity, expressed as a² = a × a, where a is the quantity.

a quantity that is the second power of another: Four is the square of two.

Slang. a person who is ignorant of or uninterested in current fads, ideas, manners, tastes, etc.; an old-fashioned, conventional, or conservative person.

Military. (formerly) a body of troops drawn up in quadrilateral form.

Building Trades. a unit of measure for roofing materials, equal to 100 square feet (9.3 sq. m).

10.

a flower bud of the cotton plant.

11.

Nautical. the area at the bottom of a hatchway.

12.

Usually, squares. Informal. a square meal: to get three squares a day.

13.

Astrology. a situation in which two heavenly bodies or groups of heavenly bodies have celestial longitudes differing by 90 degrees, an aspect indicative of internal tension with an equally strong and conflicting need for adjustment.

14.

Obsolete. a pattern, standard, or example.

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verb (used with object)

15.

to reduce to square, rectangular, or cubical form (often followed by off): He squared off the log to make a timber for his house.

16.

to mark out in one or more squares or rectangles.

17.

to test with measuring devices for deviation from a right angle, straight line, or plane surface.

18.

Mathematics.

to multiply (a number or quantity) by itself; raise to the second power.

to describe or find a square that is equivalent in area to: to square a circle.

19.

to bring to the form of a right angle or right angles; set at right angles to something else.

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20.

to even the score of (a contest): to square a game.

21.

to set (the shoulders and back) in an erect posture so they form an angle similar to a right angle.

22.

to make straight, level, or even: Square the cloth on the table.

23.

to regulate, as by a standard; adapt; adjust.

24.

to adjust harmoniously or satisfactorily (often followed by with): How could you square such actions with your conscience?

25.

to balance; pay off; settle: to square a debt.

26.

Slang. to secure a desired action or attitude by means of bribery; bribe.

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Square is always a great word to know.

So is lowest common multiple. Does it mean:

the product obtained by multiplying a quantity by itself one or more times, the exponent of an expression

the smallest number that is a common multiple of a given set of numbers

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used without object)

27.

to accord or agree (often followed by with): Your theory does not square with the facts.

28.

to settle, even, or balance a matter, as by paying a bill, returning a favor, or tying a score.

29.

(of a cotton plant) to form buds.

adjective

30.

formed by or as a right angle; having some part or parts rectangular: a square corner.

31.

having four sides and four right angles in two dimensions or three pairs of parallel sides meeting at right angles in three dimensions; having each dimension in the shape of a square or rectangle and all angles right angles: a square box.

32.

noting any unit of area measurement having the form of a square and designated by a unit of linear measurement forming a side of the square: one square foot.

33.

noting a system of area measurement in terms of such units.

34.

(of an area) equal to a square of a specified length on a side: five miles square.

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35.

at right angles, or perpendicular.

36.

Nautical. at right angles to the mast and the keel, as a yard.

37.

having a square or rectangular section: a square bar.

38.

having a solid, sturdy form, especially when characterized by a rectilinear or angular outline.

39.

straight, level, or even, as a surface.

40.

leaving no balance of debt on either side; having all accounts settled: I'm all square with my landlord.

41.

just, fair, or honest.

42.

straightforward, direct, or unequivocal.

43.

Slang. conventional or conservative in style or outlook; not hip.

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adverb

44.

so as to be square; in square or rectangular form.

45.

at right angles.

46.

fairly or honestly.

47.

directly or straightforwardly.

Verb phrases

48.

square around, Baseball. (of a bunter) to shift the feet and body from a conventional batting stance to a position facing the pitcher, with the bat held across and in front of the body.

49.

square away,

Nautical. to arrange the yards so as to sail before the wind.

to prepare; get ready: Square away for dinner.

to assume a position of defense or offense: The wrestlers squared away for the first fall.

to organize or complete satisfactorily; put in order: I want to square away the work before going on vacation.

50.

square off,

to assume a posture of defense or offense, as in boxing: They squared off for a fight.

to prepare to dispute with another; show signs of opposition or resistance: The governor and the legislature are squaring off over the landfill issue.

51.

square up, to pay or settle an account, bill, etc.: We squared up with the cashier and checked out of the hotel.

Idioms

52.

on the square,

at right angles.

Informal. straightforward; honest; just: Their dealings with us have always been on the square.

53.

out of square,

not at right angles.

not in agreement; incorrect; irregular: The inspector's conclusions are out of square with his earlier report.

54.

square the circle, to strive without chance of success; attempt the impossible.

Origin:
1250–1300; (noun) Middle English < Old French esquar(r)e < Vulgar Latin *exquadra, derivative of *exquadrāre (Latin ex- ex-¹ + quadrāre to square; see quadrate); (v.) Middle English squaren < Old French esquarrer < Vulgar Latin *exquadrāre; (adj.) Middle English < Old French esquarré, past participle of esquarrer; (adv.) derivative of the adj.

Related forms

squar·a·ble, adjective

square·like, adjective

square·ness, noun

squar·er, noun

un·squar·a·ble, adjective

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un·squared, adjective

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Synonyms
3. place, park. 22. straighten. 23. rectify. 40. balanced. 42. downright, straight.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To square

Example Sentences

Square will make money by taking a cut of every transaction processed.

Twenty years after a nuclear reactor exploded, blanketing thousands of square miles with radiation, the catastrophe isn't over.

For the four-by-four grid, you can start with one empty square anywhere in the grid and achieve the same goal.

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Square will make money by taking a cut of every transaction processed.

Twenty years after a nuclear reactor exploded, blanketing thousands of square miles with radiation, the catastrophe isn't over.

For the four-by-four grid, you can start with one empty square anywhere in the grid and achieve the same goal.

Towers could be square or round, with either crenellated tops or conical roofs.

If you don't have a lot of square footage for your garden, experiment with plants that don't take up a lot of space.

Square has been active in the mobile payments space.

For each slope, fold the two long edges and the shaded tab upward, leaving the printed square hidden on the bottom side.

And you can arrange your miniature street people in your miniature town square without feeling sorry for them.

Coat one side of the second plywood square with a generous amount of glue.

The trial was halted, hopes were dashed, and the researchers went back to square one.

The square box indicates the presence of an embedded tooth.

The bottom of the sea is cold, dark and under pressures of tons per square inch.

It is less certain what the term square foot means.

It's a square fan set into the wall and vents to the outside.

The public square is all but naked when it comes to religion.

But the square is also home to a number of full-time residents.

The inverse square law trumps the law of attraction.

While the cicchetti action wraps up early, the orchestras on the main square play until late.

Black stucco retaining walls with randomly placed square insets cut across the garden.

Even defeat sounds more attractive when it is fair and square.

Point it at the nighttime sky and it tells you how bright the sky is-in magnitudes per square arcsecond.

Most animal vocal cords are triangular, but the uniquely stretchable square cords of the big cats let them produce their.

Use a utility knife or scissors to cut two-thirds of the way from the corner of the square to the center.

One of the first places on the square to set the bar for excellent seasonal cuisine.

You're standing on the center square at dawn, and the sun is rising to your right.

Consider a square table with four equally long legs.

The space was supposed to hold a lamppost, but that never showed up, so the tiny square had grown into an eyesore.

Every other square is called a campo, or campiello if it's small.

They have square stems, opposite pairs of fleshy, tooth-edged or scalloped.

But a small percentage flowers in synchrony, over hundreds of square kilometers, every few decades.

First, participants reclined and arranged themselves in a circle or square.

Whenever researchers thought they had the explanation, the evidence sent them back to square one.

All told, oil contaminated some three square kilometers of waterways and landscapes.

Brazil once had more than one million square kilometers of coastal forest.

Better technologies can square the circle of economic growth with sustainability.

Everyone looked across the town square to the old oak that still stood.

So they attached two long molecules on either side of the square region and ultrasonically vibrated a solution of the compound.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

square (skwɛə)

—n
1.	rectangle Compare rhombus a plane geometric figure having four equal sides and four right angles
2.	any object, part, or arrangement having this or a similar shape: a square of carpet; a square on a chess board
3.	(capital when part of name) an open area in a town, sometimes including the surrounding buildings, which may form a square
4.	maths the product of two equal factors; the second power: 9 is the square of 3, written 3²
5.	an instrument having two strips of wood, metal, etc, set in the shape of a T or L, used for constructing or testing right angles
6.	cricket the closely-cut area in the middle of a ground on which wickets are prepared
7.	a body of soldiers drawn up in the form of a square
8.	rowing the position of the blade of an oar perpendicular to the surface of the water just before and during a stroke
9.	informal a person who is old-fashioned in views, customs, appearance, etc
10.	astrology conjunction opposition See trine an aspect of about 90° between two planets, etc
11.	obsolete a standard, pattern, or rule
12.	back to square one indicating a return to the starting-point of an investigation, experiment, etc, because of failure, lack of progress, etc
13.	on the square
	a. at right angles
	b. on equal terms
	c. informal honestly and openly
	d. slang a phrase identifying someone as a Freemason: he is on the square
14.	out of square
	a. not at right angles or not having a right angle
	b. not in order or agreement

—*adj*
15.	being a square in shape
16.	having or forming one or more right angles or being at right angles to something
17.	square or rectangular in section: a square bar
18.	a. (prenominal) denoting a measure of area of any shape: a circle of four square feet
	b. (immediately postpositive) denoting a square having a specified length on each side: a board four feet square contains 16 square feet
19.	fair and honest (esp in the phrase a square deal)
20.	straight, even, or level: a square surface
21.	cricket at right angles to the wicket: square leg
22.	sport in a straight line across the pitch: a square pass
23.	nautical (of the sails of a square-rigger) set at right angles to the keel
24.	informal old-fashioned in views, customs, appearance, etc
25.	stocky or sturdy: square shoulders
26.	(postpositive) having no remaining debts or accounts to be settled
27.	(of a horse's gait) sound, steady, or regular
28.	(prenominal) unequivocal or straightforward: a square contradiction
29.	(postpositive) neat and tidy
30.	maths (of a matrix) having the same number of rows and columns
31.	all square on equal terms; even in score
32.	informal square peg, square peg in a round hole a person or thing that is a misfit, such as an employee in a job for which he is unsuited

—vb (often foll by with)
33.	to make into a square or similar shape
34.	maths to raise (a number or quantity) to the second power
35.	to test or adjust for deviation with respect to a right angle, plane surface, etc
36.	(sometimes foll by off) to divide into squares
37.	to position so as to be rectangular, straight, or level: square the shoulders
38.	(sometimes foll by up) to settle (debts, accounts, etc)
39.	to level (the score) in a game, etc
40.	to agree or cause to agree: your ideas don't square with mine
41.	rowing to turn (an oar) perpendicular to the surface of the water just before commencing a stroke
42.	Compare feather (in canoeing) to turn (a paddle) perpendicular to the direction of the canoe at the commencement of a stroke
43.	to arrange (something), esp by a corrupt method or come to an arrangement with (someone), as by bribery
44.	square the circle to attempt the impossible (in reference to the insoluble problem of constructing a square having exactly the same area as a given circle)

—*adv*
45.	in order to be square
46.	at right angles
47.	sport in a straight line across the pitch: pass the ball square
48.	informal squarely

[C13: from Old French esquare, from Vulgar Latin exquadra (unattested), from Latin ex¹ + quadrāre to make square; see quadrant]

'squareness

—n

'squarer

—n

'squarish

—*adj*

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

square

c.1300, "tool for measuring right angles," from O.Fr. esquire "a square, squareness," from V.L. *exquadra, from *exquadrare "to square," from L. ex- "out" + quadrare "make square," from quadrus "a square," from quattuor "four" (see quart). Meaning "rectangular shape or area"

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is first recorded before 1382; replaced O.E. feower-scyte. Sense of "open space in a town or park" is from 1687. The mathematical sense of "a number multiplied by itself" is first recorded 1557. The verb is first attested 1382; with ref. to accounts, from 1815.

square

c.1300, "containing four equal sides and right angles," from square (n.). Meaning "honest, fair," is first attested 1564; that of "straight, direct" is from 1804. Sense of "old-fashioned" is 1944, U.S. jazz slang, said to be from shape of a conductor's hand gestures in a

regular four-beat rhythm. (Square-toes meant nearly the same thing in 1771, from a style of shoes then fallen from fashion.) Squaresville is attested from 1956. Square one "the beginning" is first recorded 1960, probably from board games; square dance first attested 1870.

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American Heritage

Science Dictionary

square (skwâr) Pronunciation Key
Noun

A rectangle having four equal sides.
The product that results when a number or quantity is multiplied by itself. The square of 8, for example, is 64.

Adjective Of, being, or using units that express the measure of area.

Verb To multiply a number, quantity, or expression by itself.

American Heritage

Cultural Dictionary

square (of a number)

A number multiplied by itself, or raised to the second power. The square of three is nine; the square of nine is eighty-one.

Slang Dictionary

square definition

mod.
old-fashioned; law-abiding; stodgy. : Man, you are really square.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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square (meal) definition

n.
a good and nutritious meal. (Always with quantifier when square is used without meal.) : I need three squares a day—at least. , The old soak looks like he could use a square meal.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

FOLDOC

Computing Dictionary

Square definition

language
A query language, a precursor to SQL.
["Specifying Queries as Relational Expressions: The SQUARE Data Sublanguage", R.E. Boyce et al, CACM 18(11):621-628 (Nov 1975)].
(1995-05-02)

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

square

In addition to the idioms beginning with square, also see back to the drawing board (square one); fair and square; on the square; round peg in a square hole; shoot straight (square).