squeeze

1 verb

1 (T) to press something firmly inwards: Alice squeezed his arm affectionately. | Must you squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle?

2 (T) to get liquid from something by pressing it: squeeze sth out: Try to squeeze a bit more out of the tube. | squeeze sth on/onto sth: Squeeze a bit of lemon onto the fish.

3 (intransitive always + adv/prep, transitive always + adv/prep) to try to make something fit into a space that is too small, or to try to get into such a space

(+ into/through/past/between): Five of us squeezed into the back seat of the car. | Move your chair and I'll try to squeeze past. | squeeze sth into: You'll never squeeze yourself into that dress.

4 squeeze sth out of sb to force someone to tell you something: See if you can squeeze more information out of them.

5 squeeze sb out (of sth) to make it difficult for someone to continue in business, by attracting their customers: It's the big operators squeezing the independents out of the market.

6 (T) to manage to do something although you are very busy: squeeze sth in/into: How do you manage to squeeze so much into one day? | squeeze sb in (=have time to see them): I can squeeze you in at four o'clock.

7 squeeze in/into/through to succeed, win, or pass a test by a very small amount so that you only just avoid failure

8 (T) to strictly limit the amount of money that is available to a company or organization: The failure of the levy has squeezed the school district's budget.

2 noun

1 a (tight) squeeze a situation in which there is only just enough room for things or people to fit somewhere: It'll be a squeeze with six people in the car.

2 (C) an act of pressing something firmly, usually with your hands: give sb/sth a squeeze: Marty gave her hand a little squeeze.

3 a squeeze of lemon/lime etc a small amount of juice obtained by squeezing a piece of fruit

4 a squeeze a situation in which wages, prices, borrowing money etc are strictly controlled: a credit squeeze

5 put the squeeze on sb informal to try to persuade someone to do something

6 your/her/his main squeeze AmE informal someone's boyfriend or girlfriend