squeak
a short, sharp, shrill cry; a sharp, high-pitched sound.
Informal. opportunity; chance: their last squeak to correct the manuscript.
an escape from defeat, danger, death, or destruction (usually qualified by narrow or close).
to utter or emit a squeak or squeaky sound.
Slang. to confess or turn informer; squeal.
to utter or sound with a squeak or squeaks.
squeak by / 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 of squeak
1Other words from squeak
- squeak·ing·ly, adverb
Words Nearby squeak
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use squeak in a sentence
A squeaky garage door can make fast enemies, and squeaks aren’t the only issue that crop up.
By the time their three-month infancy was up, the Central American natives learned an average of 12 to 20 unique syllables—half or most of the 25 syllables adults use to form their squeaks and squeals.
Both bats and humans test out talking as infants | Sara Kiley Watson | August 20, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThey can add noise from both the wind and rattles and squeaks.
The rest of the area is a blend of blue padded walls with maize trim, “Block M’s” and signature Jordan Jumpman insignia serving as the backdrop to the staccato sounds of basketballs and sneaker squeaks.
Juwan Howard’s first banners at Michigan came down. He’s ready to hang another one. | Kareem Copeland | March 18, 2021 | Washington PostHer only projects to persist through the pandemic have been conducted from afar, like using acoustic monitors to eavesdrop on the animals’ squeaks and swooshes.
Why bat scientists are socially distancing from their subjects | Jerimiah Oetting | October 23, 2020 | Science News
And while polls show 594 is likely to pass, 591 could squeak by as well.
In the real world, the pro-B-2 case was a security-muffled squeak.
How the Pentagon Strangles Its Most Advanced Stealth Warplanes | Bill Sweetman | October 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTShapard, the pollster, predicts Lankford will just squeak by with a narrow majority.
T.W. Shannon’s Senate Campaign Is Not About Race. Really. | Tim Mak | June 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut I have no apologies for the audible squeals I unknowingly squeak out whenever I see her on screen.
‘Orange Is the New Black’ Season 2: The Finest, Funniest, and Most Terrifying Moments of Eps. 1-6 | Kevin Fallon, Marlow Stern | June 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd it was the most that could squeak through a filibuster- hobbled Senate.
On the second floor there was neither light nor sound—not so much as the squeak of a rat.
He could only hear the rush of eternal darkness past his ears, the thin squeak of his shadow brushing across the stars.
The Stars, My Brothers | Edmond HamiltonPunch wrung its neck, and if the choke or squeak which it gave were not real, I know nothing of reality.
A Thin Ghost and Others | M. R. (Montague Rhodes) JamesAnother near squeak was a bullet striking beside me from a glancing shot where I was standing, as I thought, in absolute safety.
Letters of Lt.-Col. George Brenton Laurie | George Brenton LaurieAt each of its revolutions the off hind-wheel gave a dry squeak like a pair of boots that has not been paid for.
Mushroom Town | Oliver Onions
British Dictionary definitions for squeak
/ (skwiːk) /
a short shrill cry or high-pitched sound
informal an escape (esp in the phrases narrow squeak, near squeak)
to make or cause to make a squeak
(intr ; usually foll by through or by) to pass with only a narrow margin: to squeak through an examination
(intr) informal to confess information about oneself or another
(tr) to utter with a squeak
Origin of squeak
1Derived forms of squeak
- squeaker, noun
- squeaky, adjective
- squeakily, adverb
- squeakiness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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