the.com/squeak
the tiny sound that gives away mice, hinges, and rubber ducks alike
means A short, high-pitched, thin sound — like the cry of a mouse or the protest of an unoiled hinge — or, as a verb, to make such a sound (and, by extension, to just barely manage something, as in 'squeak by').
from An imitative word — its sound is its meaning, the squeezed little noise spoken aloud. It surfaced in Middle English and sits in a noisy family of echoic 'squ-' words like squeal, squawk, and squeak's quieter cousin creak. Likely related to similar Scandinavian forms, but its real parent is simply the ear.
- origin
- Imitates the high-pitched noise it names
- close call
- A narrow escape is a squeaker
- mouse talk
- Some rodent squeaks are ultrasonic, too high to hear
- clean cue
- Squeaky-clean comes from rubbing dishes till they squeak
- silence price
- Greasing the squeaky wheel inspired a famous proverb
squeaky toy — rubber pet toys that produce high-pitched sounds when compressed, popular since the 1800s
squeaky clean — phrase popularized by advertising campaigns in the 1950s for cleaning products and hygiene
squeaky wheel — idiom from the proverb 'the squeaky wheel gets the grease,' origin unknown but widely used by 1900s