squelch

Unknown. Perhaps a blend of squash +‎ quell +‎ quench. Compare also English squolsh, English squoosh.

• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈskwɛlt͡ʃ/
• Rhymes: -ɛltʃ

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

squelch (third-person singular simple present squelches, present participle squelching, simple past and past participle squelched)

1. (transitive, US) To halt, stop, eliminate, stamp out, or put down, often suddenly or by force.

   Synonym: quash

   Even the king's announcement could not squelch the rumors.

   • c. 1615–1616, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher, “The Nice Valovr, or, The Passionate Mad-man”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act V, scene i:

     Oh 'twas your luck and mine to be squelched.

   • 1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:

     If you deceive us you will be squelched.

   • 1982 December 11, Frances Russell, “Economic performance buoys Pawley’s position”, in The Vancouver Sun (The Weekend Sun), Vancouver, BC, page A6:

     The party’s dominant right wing squelched not only Sherman’s hopes for an early convention, but may have also put the MLA out of contention for the leadership.

   • 2021 August 10, Laura Edelson, Damon McCoy, “We Research Misinformation on Facebook. It Just Disabled Our Accounts.”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     We believe that Facebook is using privacy as a pretext to squelch research that it considers inconvenient.

2. (transitive, radio technology) To suppress the unwanted hiss or static between received transmissions by adjusting a threshold level for signal strength.
3. (intransitive, Britain) To make a sucking, splashing noise as when walking on muddy ground.

   The mud squelched underfoot; it had been raining all night.

   • 1960, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter XVI, in Jeeves in the Offing, London: Herbert Jenkins, →OCLC:

     [After they both fell into the lake.] Reaching the mainland some moments later and squelching back to the house, accompanied by Bobbie, like a couple of Napoleons squelching back from Moscow, [...]

4. (intransitive, Britain) To walk or step through a substance such as mud.

   The mud was thick and sticky underfoot, but we squelched through it nonetheless.

squelch (countable and uncountable, plural squelches)

1. (countable) A squelching sound.
2. (radio technology) The suppression of the unwanted hiss or static between received transmissions by adjusting the gain of the receiver.
3. (countable, dated) A heavy blow or fall.
4. (countable, music) A kind of electronic beat or sound mainly used in acid house and related music genres.
   • 1998, Colin Larkin, The Virgin Encyclopedia of Dance Music, page 91:

     Through a process of experimentation the 'acid squelch' sound came forth, which was recorded and passed on to DJ Ron Hardy to play at his Warehouse club.

• break squelch
• squelchy