squeak definition | Dictionary.com

squeak

[skweek]

–noun

1.	a short, sharp, shrill cry; a sharp, high-pitched sound.

2.	Informal. opportunity; chance: their last squeak to correct the manuscript.

3.	an escape from defeat, danger, death, or destruction (usually qualified by narrow or close).

–verb (used without object)

4.	to utter or emit a squeak or squeaky sound.

5.	Slang. to confess or turn informer; squeal.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to utter or sound with a squeak or squeaks.

—Verb phrase

7.	squeak by or through, to succeed, survive, pass, win, etc., by a very narrow margin: They can barely squeak by on their income. The team managed to squeak through.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME squeken, perh. < Scand; cf. Sw skväka to croak

Related forms:

squeak⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To squeak

squeak (skwēk)

v. squeaked, squeak·ing, squeaks

v. intr.

To give forth a short, shrill cry or sound.
Slang To turn informer.

v. tr.
To utter in a thin, shrill voice.
n.

A short shrill cry or sound, such as that made by a mouse or a rusty hinge.
An escape: a close squeak.

Phrasal Verb(s):
squeak through/byTo manage barely to pass, win, or survive: squeaked through the test; squeaks by on a limited income.

[Middle English squeken, perhaps of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse skvakka, to croak.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Squeak

Squeak\, v. i. [imp.& p. p. Squaked; p. pr. & vb. n. Squeaking.] [Probably of imitative origin; cf. Sw. sqv["a]ka to croak, Icel. skvakka to give a sound as of water shaken in a bottle.]

1. To utter a sharp, shrill cry, usually of short duration; to cry with an acute tone, as an animal; or, to make a sharp, disagreeable noise, as a pipe or quill, a wagon wheel, a door; to creak.

Who can endure to hear one of the rough old Romans squeaking through the mouth of an eunuch? --Addison.

Zoilus calls the companions of Ulysses the "squeaking pigs" of Homer. --Pope.

2. To break silence or secrecy for fear of pain or punishment; to speak; to confess. [Colloq.]

If he be obstinate, put a civil question to him upon the rack, and he squeaks, I warrant him. --Dryden.

Squeak

Squeak\, n. A sharp, shrill, disagreeable sound suddenly utered, either of the human voice or of any animal or instrument, such as is made by carriage wheels when dry, by the soles of leather shoes, or by a pipe or reed.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : squeak

Italian: squittio; guaito, pigolio,

German: das Quietschen,

Japanese: ちゅーちゅーという声

More Translations »

squeak (v.)

1387, probably of imitative origin, similar to Middle Swedish skväka "to squeak, croak." The noun is from 1664; sense of "narrow escape" is from 1822. Squeaky clean in fig. sense is from 1972, probably from advertisements for dishwashing liquid.

Squeak language
1.
["Squeak: A Language for Communicating with Mice", L. Cardelli et al, Comp Graphics 19(3):199-204, July 1985].
See Newsqueak.
2. A Smalltalk implementation and a media authoring tool by members of the original Xerox PARC team which created Smalltalk (Alan Kay, Dan Ingalls, et al). Squeak is an open-source implementation, with a highly portable virtual machine implemented in a subset of Smalltalk (translated into C and compiled by a C compiler of the target platform).
Squeak Home.
SqueakCentral.
(2002-11-03)

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