to strike or press with crushing force; crush down; squash.
to put down, suppress, or silence, as with a crushing retort or argument.
verb (used without object)
to make a splashing sound.
to tread heavily in water, mud, wet shoes, etc., with such a sound.
noun
a squelched or crushed mass of anything.
a splashing sound.
an act of squelching or suppressing, as by a crushing retort or argument.
Also called squelch circuit,noise suppressor. Electronics. a circuit in a receiver, as a radio receiver, that automatically reduces or eliminates noise when the receiver is tuned to a frequency at which virtually no carrier wave occurs.
Origin of squelch
1610–20; variant of quelch in same sense (perhaps blend of quell and quash); initial s perhaps from squash1
Even so, AEI is mostly a bystander as Republicans fight among themselves to squelch the Tea Party grassroots.
D.C.’s Conservative Guru Finds His Inner Hippie|Eleanor Clift|June 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Attempting to squelch political speech by calling it hate speech only makes Israel look weaker.
Once Again, the Anti-Defamation League Defames|Jay Michaelson|October 22, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Yes, the party wants to squelch cultural expressions that threaten its own continuity and survival.
China’s Next Big Export: Creativity and Culture|Ken Miller|November 22, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In attempting to squelch the protests, government forces killed six people on March 18 and more four days later.
What's Happening in Syria? 6 Key Questions|David A. Graham|March 25, 2011|DAILY BEAST
But she has done her darnedest to squelch rumors that she is interested in running.
Dems Plot to Sink Scott Brown|Samuel P. Jacobs|December 12, 2010|DAILY BEAST
A boy with a fifteen-and-sixpenny toy revolver you can laugh at and squelch; but, Alamachtig!
The Dop Doctor|Clotilde Inez Mary Graves
Before I got wind of them, they had gone so far it was almost impossible to squelch them.
A Book of Burlesques|H. L. Mencken
I bent sharply forward to draw it out again, there was the beginning of a squelch and then it suddenly slid out of the boot.
Combed Out|Fritz August Voigt
Wellington felt called upon to squelch him: "You Englishmen never had a real tub till we Americans sold 'em to you."
Excuse Me!|Rupert Hughes
I don't think that you can discover that Douglas ever talked of going to Virginia to "squelch" out that idea there.
The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Volume Five|Abraham Lincoln
British Dictionary definitions for squelch
squelch
/ (skwɛltʃ) /
verb
(intr)to walk laboriously through soft wet material or with wet shoes, making a sucking noise
(intr)to make such a noise
(tr)to crush completely; squash
(tr)informalto silence, as by a crushing retort
noun
a squelching sound
something that has been squelched
electronicsa circuit that cuts off the audio-frequency amplifier of a radio receiver in the absence of an input signal, in order to suppress background noise