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squelch

 - 3 dictionary results

squelch

  [skwelch] ,
Use squelch in a Sentence
–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)
3. to make a splashing sound.
4. to tread heavily in water, mud, wet shoes, etc., with such a sound.
–noun
5. a squelched or crushed mass of anything.
6. a splashing sound.
7. an act of squelching or suppressing, as by a crushing retort or argument.
8. Also called squelch circuit, noise suppressor. 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.
Origin:
1610–20; var. of quelch in same sense (perh. b. quell and quash ); initial s perh. from squash 1

Related forms:
squelcher, noun
squelch⋅ing⋅ly, adverb
squelch⋅ing⋅ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To squelch
squelch   (skwělch)   
v.   squelched, squelch·ing, squelch·es

v.   tr.

  1. To crush by or as if by trampling; squash.

  2. To put down or silence, as with a crushing retort: squelch a rumor.

  3. To suppress or inhibit: a protein that squelches gene transcription.

v.   intr.
To produce a splashing, squishing, or sucking sound, as when walking through ooze.
n.  

  1. A squishing sound.

  2. A crushing reply.

  3. An electric circuit that cuts off a radio receiver when the signal is too weak for reception of anything but noise.


[Probably imitative.]
squelch'er n.
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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Word Origin & History

squelch  (v.)
1624, "to fall, drop, or stomp on something (soft) with crushing force," possibly imitative of sound made. The fig. sense of "suppress completely" is first recorded 1864.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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