- squash (v.)
- "to crush," 1560s, from Old French esquasser "to crush," from Vulgar Latin *exquassare, from Latin ex- "out" (see ex-) + quassare "to shatter" (see quash "to crush"). Related: Squashed; squashing. The racket game is first recorded by that name in 1886, originally it was the name of the soft rubber ball used in it.
- squash (n.)
- "gourd fruit," 1640s, shortened borrowing from Narraganset (Algonquian) askutasquash, literally "the green things that may be eaten raw," from askut "green, raw" + asquash "eaten," in which the -ash is a plural affix (cf. succotash).