Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to deal a crushing blow, in fig. use, to suppress; also fig; also as n., a snubbing; thus squelched adj.; squelch, squelching n.

1624		Middleton Game at Chess V iii: S’foot! This Fat Black Bishop has so squelch’d and squeezed me, So overlaid me, I have no verjuice Left in me.
1629		R. Brome Northern Lasse III i: I a pox squelch him.
1868		Sportsman 14 May 2/1: Notes on News [...] How long must we wait till public opinion [...] squelches these typographical skunks.
1866		‘Artemus Ward’ ’Preliminary’ in Complete Works 314: O’Mahony [...] squelched, exterminated, crushed out and extinguished the cantankerous Senators .
1871		Hamilton Spectator (Vic.) 7 Jan. 1/7: Some time ago the extremely inelegant word ‘squelch’ was the Virginny favourite. If a man failed in business he was ‘squelched;’ ‘squelched,’ if visited by sickness or distress; ‘squelched,’ if he married; ‘squelched,’ if he died.
1872		G.P. Burnham Memoirs of the US Secret Service 379: The boozing-ken was squelched, and after being fitted up anew, was transformed into a respectable restaurant.
1880		Bulletin (Sydney) 22 May 2/2: The Great Powers order Turkey to ‘squelch’ the Albanians.
1881		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 8 Jan. 12/4: [headline] squelched How a Susceptible Man Was Cured of His Disposition for ‘Mashing’.
1886		J.W. Palmer After his Kind 120: Luke gazed shamefaced at the nosegay in his button-hole and was squelched [F&H].
1890		Sporting Times 15 Feb. 1/5: Portugal made a small fool of itself, and has been squelched, and anyone else who takes a liberty will get a similar punch on the boko.
1897		Sun (N.Y.) 11 Apr. n.p.: If [...] the object of the ‘crush’ gets weary of the devotion, she resorts to what in college parlance is known as ‘squelching,’ the highest form of which is the ‘d.s.,’ or ‘dead squelch.’.
1902		Pall Mall Gazette 4 Dec. 2 2: [...] Mr. Redmond is to descend upon Dundalk with a design to squelch Mr. Healy [F&H].
1904		Seattle Republican (WA) 22 July 2/1: Someone should be squelched.
1919		Grant’s Pass Dly Courier (OR) 24 Apr. 2/3: You wished to squelch that William skate, and everything for which he stood.
1929		S. Ornitz Haunch Paunch and Jowl 80: They think Barney is squelched, but he is unruffled.
1936		L.C. Douglas White Banners 127: An inquisitive maid-of-all-work who might try to be chummy unless promptly squelched.
1936		A.E. Duckett ‘Truckin ’round Brooklyn’ in N.Y. Age 30 May 7/1: Herbie White tells us the sweetest ‘squelch’ we’ve heard yet.
1942		W. Winchell 19 Apr. [synd. col.] We like Frank Fay’s squelch: ‘If I had a cheap knife I’d stab you’.
1953		S. Bellow Augie March (1996) 62: The beatings didn’t squelch him.
1969		D. Di Prima Memoirs of a Beatnik 22: I had a few misgivings, but I squelched them.
2005		B. Woodward Secret Man 3: Here were two of the reasons the Watergate cover-up had worked at first: Dean’s effectiveness in squelching further inquiry [etc].
2010		W.D. Myers Lockdown 48: I’m going to squelch this report. I’m going to let [...] the other kid, take the whole blame.
2023		(con. 1962) J. Ellroy Enchanters 135: ‘[S]tand ready to squelch any anti-PD rumors’.