squab 
Your demure ladies that are so nquob In company are 
devils in a corner. 
AT. Lee, Princess of Cleve, ill. i. (Encyc. Diet.) 
II. it. 1. A young animal in its earliest pe- 
riod; a young beast or bird before the hair or 
feathers appear, (a) Specifically, a young unfledged 
pigeon or dove. A youn pigeon is properly a squab as 
long as it sits in the nest; as soon as it can utter its 
Squabs of Domestic Pigeon. 
querulous cries for food it becomes a squealer or squeaker, 
and so continues as long as it is fed by the parents, which 
is generally until it is fully fledged ; but it continues to be 
called squab as marketable for its flesh. (6) Figuratively, 
a young and inexperienced person. 
Brit. I warrant you, is he a trim youth? 
Mon. We must make him one, Jacke ; 'tis such a squab as 
thou never sawest ; such a lumpe, we may make whatwe 
will of him. Brome, Sparagus Garden, ii. 2. 
2. A short, fat, flabby person : also used figur- 
atively. 
Oorgonius sits, abdominous and wan, 
Like a fat squab upon a Chinese fan. 
Cowper, Progress of Error, 1. 218. 
We shall then see how the prudes of this world owed all 
their fine figure only to their being a little straiter laced, 
and that they were naturally as arrant squabs as those 
that went more loose. 
Pope, To Lady M. W. Montagu, Aug. 18, 1716. 
3. (a) A thickly stuffed cushion, especially one 
for a pieee of furniture, as an upholstered chair 
or sofa, to which it may or may not be attached. 
Hence (6) A sofa in which there is no part 
of the frame visible, and which is stuffed and 
caught through with strong thread at regular 
intervals, but so as to be very soft. 
Bessie herself lay on a squab, or short sofa, placed under 
the window. Mrs. Gaskett, North and South, xiii. 
(c) An ottoman. 
I have seen a folio writer place himself in an elbow- 
chair, when the author of duodecimo has, out of a just 
deference to his superior quality, seated himself upon a 
squab. . Addison, Spectator, No. 529. 
Squab 2 (skwob), ;. t. ; pret. and pp. squabbed, 
ppr. squabbing. [< squab^jn.] To stuff thickly 
and catch through with thread at regular inter- 
vals, as a cushion. A button or soft tuft is usually 
placed in the depressions to hide the stitches. Furniture 
upholstered in this manner is said to be squabbed. 
squabash (skwa-bash'), v. t. [Appar. an arbi- 
trary formation, or an extension of sqitabl.] To 
crush; squash; quash: also used as a noun. 
[Slang.] 
His [Gilford's] satire of the Baviad and Meeviad squa- 
bashed, at one blow, aset of coxcombs who might have hum- 
bugged the world long enough. 
Scott, Diary, Jan. 17, 1827. (Lockhart.) 
squabbish (skwob'ish), a. [< squab? + -ish 1 .] 
Thick; fat; heavy. 
Diet renders them of & squabbish or lardy habit of body. 
Harvey. 
squabble (skwob'l), v. ; pret. and pp. squabbled, 
ppr. squabbling. [< Sw. dial, "skvabbla, dispute 
(skcabbel, a dispute), freq. of slfvappa, chide, 
lit. make a splashing, < skuapp, a splash: see 
swab, swap.] I. intrans. To engage in a noisy 
quarrel or row; wrangle; quarrel and fight 
noisily; brawl; scuffle. 
Drunk? and speak parrot? and squabble? swagger? 
swear? Shak., Othello, ii. 3. 279. 
We should squabble like Brother and Sister. 
Steele, Tender Husband, i. 1. 
= Syn. To Jangle. See quarrell , n. 
II. trans. In printing, to disarrange and mix 
(lines of composed types) when they are stand- 
ing on their feet. 
The letters do not range well, giving an irregular or 
squabbled appearance to the line. Science, VIII. 254. 
squabble (skwob'l), n. [< Sw. dial, skvabbel, 
a dispute; from the verb.] A wrangle; a dis- 
pute ; a brawl ; a scuffle ; a noisy quarrel. 
Pragmatic fools commonly begin the sqiiabble, and crafty 
knaves reap the benefit. Sir n. L'Estramje. 
This contrariety of humours betwixt my father and my 
uncle was the source of many a fraternal squabble. 
Sterne, Tristram Shandy, i. 21. 
=Syn. Brawl, Wratiyle, etc. See quarrel*. 
369 
5873 
squabbler (skwob'ler), H. [< sqiiiibhtr + -n-l.] 
One who squabbles; a contentious person; it 
brawler; a noisy disputant. 
squabby (skwob'i), a. [< squab'* + -v 1 .] Thick; 
resembling a squab; squat. 
A French woman is a perfect architect in dress ; . . . she 
never tricks out a squabby Doric shape with Corinthian 
finery. Goldsmith, The Bee, No. 2. 
squab-chick (skwob 'chik), n. A chick, or 
young chicken, not fully feathered ; a fledgling. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
squab-pie (skwob'pi), w. 1. A pie made of 
squabs; pigeon-pie. 2. A pie made of fat 
mutton well peppered and salted, with layers 
of apple and an onion or two. Halliwell. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
Cornwall squab-pye, and Devon white-pot brings ; 
And Leicester beans and bacon, food of kings ! 
W. King, Art of Cookery, 1. 165. 
squacco (skwak'6), n. [A native name, prob. 
imitative (cf. quack 1 , quail 3 ).'] A small rail-like 
heron of Europe, Asia, and Africa, Ardea or 
Ardeola comata, ralloidet) castanea, orsquaiotta. 
of a white color, much varied with chestnut or 
russet-brown and black. The head is crested, with 
six long black and white plumes; the bill is cobalt-blue, 
Squacco (Ardeola comata). 
tipped with black ; the lores are emerald-green ; the feet 
flesh-colored, with yellow soles and black claws ; and the 
irides pale-yellow. The squacco nests in heronries, usu- 
ally on a tree, and lays four to six greenish-blue eggs. It 
is rare in Europe north of the Mediterranean basin, but 
common in most pails of Africa, and extends into a small 
part of Asia. 
Squad 1 (skwod), n. [(OF. vernacular esquarre, 
esquare, > ME. square) < OF. esqttadre, escadre, 
F. escadre = Sp. escitadra = Pg. esquadra, < 
It. squadra, a squad, squadron, square : see 
sgxare 1 , and cf. squadron.'] 1. Milit., , any small 
number of men assembled, as for drill, inspec- 
tion, or duty. 2. Any small party or group 
of persons: as, a squad of navvies; a set of 
people in general : usually somewhat contemp- 
tuous. Awkward squad, a body of recruits not yet 
competent, by their knowledge of drill and the manual of 
arms, to take their place in the regimental line. 
squad 1 (skwod), v. t.; pret. and pp. squadded, 
ppr. squadding. [< squad 1 , n.] To draw up in 
a squad. 
Squad your men, and form up on the road. 
Lever, Charles O'Malley, Ixxxvl. (Encyc. Diet.) 
squad 2 (skwod), n. [Origin obscure ; perhaps 
a dial. var. of shade, ult. < AS. sceddan, scddan, 
separate: see shade,] 1. Soft, slimy mud. 
[Prov. Eng.] 2. In mining, loose ore of tin 
mixed with earth. [Cornish.] 
squaddy (skwod'i), a. [A var. of squatty.] 
Squabby. [Old Eng. and U. S.] 
A fatte squaddy monke that had beene well fedde in 
some cloyster. 
Greene, News both from Heaven and Hell (1593). (Ifares.) 
I had hardly got seated when in came a great, stout, 
fat, squaddy woman. 
Major Downing, May-Day. (Bartlett.) 
squadron (skwod'ron), n. [= D. escadron = 
Dan. eskadron, < OF. esquadron, F. escadron = 
Sp. escuadron = Pg. esquadrao (= G. schwad- 
rone = Sw. squadron), < It. squadrone, a squad- 
ron, aug. of squadra, a squad, a square: see 
squad 1 , square*.] If. A square. 
Sixe dayes iourney from Bezeneger is the place where 
they get Diamants ; ... it is a great place, compassed 
with a wall, and . . . they sell the earth within the wall 
for so much a squadron, and the limits are set how deepe 
or how low they shall digge. Hakluyt's Voyages, II. 221. 
2. A body of soldiers drawn up in a square, or 
in regular array, as for battle ; specifically, in 
squalid 
modern armies, the principal division of a regi- 
ment of ca va Iry . This corresponds more or less close- 
ly to a company in the infantry, and consists of two troops, 
each coimnaniird liy a captain. I tir actual strength "i :> 
squadron varies from l-.il> to liiX) mm. 
The Ordovices, to welcome the new General, had hew'n 
in peeces a whole X'it'a<ln>it of HOI-M>. 
Milton, Hist. Eng., ii. 
3. A division of a fleet; a detachment of ships 
of war employed on a particular service or sta- 
tion, and under the command of a flag-officer. 
4. Generally, any ranked and orderly body 
or group. 5. In early New England records 
(1636), one of four divisions of town laud, 
probably in the first instance a square. The 
records show that squadron was used later in other senses : 
(a) A division of a town for highway care. 
Agreed upon by the selectmen for the . . . calling out 
of their men to work, that is within their several^uadro/w. 
Town Recirrds, Groton, Mass., 1671. 
(6) A school district. 
Voted and chose a committee of seven men to apportion 
the school in six societies or squadrons, . . . taking the 
northwesterly corner for one squadron. 
Town Records, Marlborough, Mass , 1749. 
Sometimes spelled squadrant. 
squadron (skwod'ron), v. t. [< squadron, .] 
1. To form into squadrons, as a body of sol- 
diers. Hence 2. To form in order ; array. 
They gladly hither haste, and by a quire 
Of squadron'd angels hear his carols sung. 
Milton, P. L., xii. 37. 
squail, squale (skwal), . [Also scale; per- 
haps a dial. var. of skail, in pi. skails, formerly 
skayles, a var. of kail 2 : see kail 2 and skayles.] 1 . 
A disk or counter used in the game of squails. 
Urge, towards the table's centre, 
With unerring hand, the squail. 
C. S. Calverley, There Stands a City. 
2. pi. A game in which disks or counters are 
driven by snapping them from the edge of a 
round board or table at a mark in the center. 
3. pi. Ninepins. Balliicell. [Prov. Eng.] 
squail, squale (skwal), v. [< squail, .] I. in- 
trans. To throw a stick, loaded stick, disk, flat 
stone, or other object at a mark : often applied 
to the throwing of sticks at cocks or geese on 
Shrove Tuesday, a sport formerly popular in 
England. Grose. [Prov. Eng. and New Eng.] 
II. trans. To aim at, throw at, or pelt with 
sticks or other missiles. 
"Squalling a goose before his door, and tossing dogs and 
cats on Shrove Tuesday " (Mr. Hunt's " Bristol "). The al- 
lusion is to the republican mayor of the city in 1651. 
N. and Q., 7th ser., IV. 169. 
squail-board (skwal'bord), . The round board 
upon which the game of squails is played. 
squailer (skwa'ler), n. A kind of throwing- 
stick, an improvement on that used formerly 
in squailing cocks or geese. 
Armed with squatters, an ingenious instrument com- 
posed of a short stick of pliant cane and a leaded knob, 
to drive the harmless little squirrel from tree to tree, and 
lay it a victim at the feet of a successful shot. 
Daily Telegraph, Nov. 30, 1881. (Encyc. Diet.) 
squaimoust, a. See squeamous. 
squaint, An obsolete dialectal form of swain. 
squalder (skwol'der), w. A kind of jelly-fish. 
See the quotation. 
I have oftentimes mett with two other entities which 
seeme to bee of a congenerous substance with the afore- 
named gellies, both of them to bee found in the salt water. 
One is flat and round, as broad as a mans palme, or broad- 
er, and as thick as the hand, cleare and transparent, con- 
vex on one side and somewhat like the gibbous part of the 
human liver, on the other side concave with a contrivance 
like a knott in the very middle thereof, but plainly with 
circular fibers about the verge or edge of it (where it is 
growne thin) which suffer manifest constriction and dila- 
tation, which doe promote its natation, which is also per- 
ceptible, and by which you may discerne it to advance 
towards the shore, or recede from it. About us they are 
generally called squalders, but are indeed evidently fishes, 
although not described in any Ichthyology I have yet mett 
with. Dr. R. Robinson, To Sir T. Browne, Dec. 12, 1659 (in 
[Sir T. Browne's Works, I. 423). 
squale, . and v. See squall. 
Squali (skwa'li), n. pi. [NL. (Miiller, 1835), pi. 
of L. squalus, a shark: see Sqvalus.] In ichth., 
a section of elasmobranchiate fishes, or sela- 
chians, having the gill-slits lateral and plural, 
five, six, or seven in number ; the sharks proper, 
as distinguished from the Raise (rays or skates, 
with ventral gill-slits) and from the Holocepltali 
(chimeras, with gill-slits a single pair). The name 
has been used for groups of various extent ; it is now gen- 
erally restricted to the plagiostomous fishes with lateral 
branchial apertures and the pectoral fins regularly curved 
backward from the base of insertion. The Squali are 
divided into about 12 families and many genera, the no- 
menclature of which is by no means fixed. See Selachii 
and sharkl , and cuts under selachian and doyfah. 
Squalid (skwol'id), a. [< L. squalidus, foul, 
filthy, < squaiere, be stiff, rough, or dry (with 
