Quash

//kwɒʃ// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To defeat decisively, to suppress.

    "The army quashed the rebellion."

  2. 2
    put down by force or intimidation wordnet
  3. 3
    To crush or dash to pieces. obsolete

    "The whales / Against sharp rocks, like reeling vessels, quashed, / Though huge as mountains, are in pieces dashed."

  4. 4
    declare invalid wordnet
  5. 5
    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."

Synonyms

All synonyms
invalidaterepressabateabolishabrogateannihilate

Example

More examples

"The CEO is trying to quash these unfounded rumors about a merger."

Etymology

From 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”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.