Squeeze

Squeeze is a word with multiple related senses, centered on applying pressure or force to compress something. As a verb, it can mean to press something firmly so that it becomes smaller or to extract liquid or contents by pressing. It can also mean to force a person or object through a tight space or to fit something into a confined area. As a noun, squeeze can refer to the act of pressing, a pinch or grip, or a situation characterized by pressure or constraint, such as a time squeeze or a budget squeeze.

In everyday use, squeezing involves physical pressure, such as squeezing a lemon to extract juice or squeezing a sponge to remove liquid. It also describes fitting items into small spaces, securing transport, or giving someone a brief hug, often colloquially phrased as a “hug and a squeeze.”

In finance and economics, squeeze denotes pressure that constrains activity or profitability. A short squeeze occurs when rising prices force short sellers to buy back shares, driving the price even higher. A liquidity squeeze or credit squeeze occurs when access to funding tightens, limiting market activity and increasing costs for borrowers and lenders. A margin squeeze refers to narrowing profit margins due to rising costs or competitive pricing.

Other uses include a squeeze play in baseball, where a runner at third base is driven home by a bunt; a squeeze box, another term for a concertina or similar instrument; and in mathematics, the squeeze (or sandwich) theorem, which establishes a limit for a function by bracketing it between two others with the same limit.