different between compel vs squeeze

English

Etymology

From Middle English compellen, borrowed from Middle French compellir, from Latin compellere, itself from com- (“together”) + pellere (“to drive”). Displaced native Middle English fordriven ("to drive out, to lead to, to compel, to force"), from Old English fordr?fan. More at fordrive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?m?p?l/
• Rhymes: -?l
• Hyphenation: com?pel

Verb

compel (third-person singular simple present compels, present participle compelling, simple past and past participle compelled)

1. (transitive, archaic, literally) To drive together, round up (Can we add an example for this sense?)
2. (transitive) To overpower; to subdue.
3. (transitive) To force, constrain or coerce.

   Logic compels the wise, while fools feel compelled by emotions.

   • 1600, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, act 5, scene 1,

     Against my will, / As Pompey was, am I compell’d to set / Upon one battle all our liberties.

   • 1827, Henry Hallam, The Constitutional History of England

     Wolsey […] compelled the people to pay up the whole subsidy at once.

4. (transitive) To exact, extort, (make) produce by force.
5. (obsolete) To force to yield; to overpower; to subjugate.

   • Easy sleep their weary limbs compell'd.

   • ?, Alfred Tennyson, Geraint and Enid

     I compel all creatures to my will.

6. (obsolete) To gather or unite in a crowd or company.

   • in one troop compell'd

7. (obsolete) To call forth; to summon.

Derived terms

Related terms

• compulsion

Translations

References

• compel in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “compel” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Random House Webster’s Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.

English

Etymology

From earlier squize, squise (whence also dialectal English squizzen and squeege), first attested around 1600, probably an alteration of quease (which is attested since 1550), from Middle English queisen (“to squeeze”), from Old English cw?san, cw?san (“to crush, squeeze”), of unknown origin, perhaps imitative (compare Swedish qväsa, kväsa (“to squeeze, bruise, crush; quell”), Dutch kwetsen (“to injure, hurt”), German quetschen (“to squeeze”)). Compare also French esquicher from Old Occitan esquichar (“to press, squeeze”). The slang expression "to put the squeeze on (someone or something)", meaning "to exert influence", is from 1711. The baseball term "squeeze play" is first recorded 1905. "Main squeeze" ("most important person") is attested from 1896, the specific meaning "one's sweetheart, lover" is attested by 1980.

The nonstandard strong forms squoze and squozen, attested dialectally since at least the mid-19th century, are by analogy with freeze.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /skwi?z/
• Rhymes: -i?z

Verb

squeeze (third-person singular simple present squeezes, present participle squeezing, simple past squeezed or (nonstandard) squoze, past participle squeezed or (nonstandard) squozen)

1. (transitive) To apply pressure to from two or more sides at once.

   I squeezed the ball between my hands.

   Please don't squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle.

   • 1922, Virginia Woolf, Jacob's Room Chapter 1:

     "Over there—by the rock," Steele muttered, with his brush between his teeth, squeezing out raw sienna, and keeping his eyes fixed on Betty Flanders's back.

2. (transitive) To embrace closely; to give a tight hug to.
3. (transitive, intransitive) To fit into a tight place.

   I managed to squeeze the car into that parking space.

   Can you squeeze through that gap?

   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows:

     Could he not squeeze under the seat of a carriage? He had seen this method adopted by schoolboys, when the journey- money provided by thoughtful parents had been diverted to other and better ends.

4. (transitive) To remove something with difficulty, or apparent difficulty.

   He squeezed some money out of his wallet.

5. (transitive) To put in a difficult position by presenting two or more choices.

   I'm being squeezed between my job and my volunteer work.

   • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):

     At a time when Mr. Cameron is being squeezed from both sides — from the right by members of his own party and by the anti-immigrant, anti-Europe U.K. Independence Party, and from the left by his Liberal Democrat coalition partners — the move seemed uncharacteristically clunky.

6. (transitive, figuratively) To oppress with hardships, burdens, or taxes; to harass.
7. (transitive, baseball) To attempt to score a runner from third by bunting.

   Jones squeezed in Smith with a perfect bunt.

Synonyms

• (to apply pressure to from two or more sides at once): compress, condense; see also Thesaurus:compress

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

squeeze (plural squeezes)

1. A close or tight fit.
2. (figuratively) A difficult position.

3. A hug or other affectionate grasp.

4. (slang) A romantic partner.
   • 1988, James Ellroy, Dudley Smith Trio: The Big Nowhere, LA Confidential, White Jazz, Random House (?ISBN), page 459:

     He spent nights cruising queer bars near the pad, saw Wiltsie at the dives, but always in the company of his squeeze, a guy he called 'Duane.'

   • 2012, J. Lamar, Tip Tap Toe, Xlibris Corporation (?ISBN), page 141:

     His young squeeze had just backed out and had not seen the assault on her “ sugar daddy” when it happened!

   • 2014, N. Lombardi Jr., Journey Towards a Falling Sun, John Hunt Publishing (?ISBN)

     But even considering that, he might have been a bit more restrained if he hadn't run into his former sexy squeeze, Penny Atieno.

5. (slang) An illicit alcoholic drink made by squeezing Sterno through cheesecloth, etc., and mixing the result with fruit juice.
6. (baseball) The act of bunting in an attempt to score a runner from third.

7. (card games) A play that forces an opponent to discard a card that gives up one or more tricks.
8. (caving) A traversal of a narrow passage.
9. A moulding, cast or other impression of an object, chiefly a design, inscription etc., especially by pressing wet paper onto the surface and peeling off when dry.
   • 1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson 1986, p. 65:

     Nollekens, finding his wife always benefited by these visits, never refused White a squeeze of a patera, or any thing that would answer his purpose; […] White […] had turned his wine-cellars into manufactories for the produce of cast coins, and moderns squeezes from Roman lamps.

10. (mining) The gradual closing of workings by the weight of the overlying strata.
11. (dated) The situation experienced by a middleman when pressured from both sides, especially financially.
12. (dated) A bribe, fee, or extortionary price paid to a middleman, especially in China; the practice of requiring such a bribe or fee.

Translations

See also

• squash
• squeegee
• squish
• margin squeeze