/kwɒʃ/, /kwɑʃ/, /kwɔʃ/
OriginFrom Middle English quaschen, quasshen, cwessen, quassen, from Old French quasser, from Latin quassāre, under the influence of cassō (“to annul”), from Latin quatiō (“I shake”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeh₁t- (“to shake”) (same root for the English words: pasta, paste, pastiche, pastry). Cognate with Dutch kwetsen (“to hurt, injure”), German quetschen (“to crush, squash”), Spanish quejar (“to complain”).
- To defeat decisively, to suppress.
“The army quashed the rebellion.”
“Contrition is apt to quash or allay all worldly grief.”
“Anne that she had been perfectly right in her proceedings, since, by quashing all idle hopes, both parties would see the necessity of conquering their foolish passion.”
- obsoleteTo crush or dash to pieces.
“The whales / Against sharp rocks, like reeling vessels, quashed, / Though huge as mountains, are in pieces dashed.”
- To void or suppress (a subpoena, decision, etc.).
“In the case of an appeal against conviction the Court shall, if they allow the appeal, quash the conviction.”
Formsquashes(present, singular, third-person) · quashing(participle, present) · quashed(participle, past) · quashed(past)