American Heritage Dictionary Entry: square HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com square (skwâr) Share: Tweet n. 1. A polygon having four equal sides and four equal angles. 2. Something having an equal-sided rectangular form: a square of cloth. 3. A T-shaped or L-shaped instrument for drawing or testing right angles. 4. Mathematics The product obtained when a number or quantity is multiplied by itself: 49 is the square of 7. 5. Games Any of the quadrilateral spaces on a board, as in chess. 6. a. Abbr. Sq. An open, usually four-sided area at the intersection of two or more streets, often planted with grass and trees for use as a park. b. A rectangular space enclosed by streets and occupied by buildings; a block. 7. The flower bud of a cotton plant, with three bracts surrounding the unopened flower in a pyramidal structure. 8. Slang A person who is regarded as dull, rigidly conventional, and out of touch with current trends. adj. squar·er, squar·est 1. Having four equal sides and four right angles. 2. Forming a right angle. 3. In alignment or flush: Put the paper square with the edge of the desk. 4. a. Abbr. sq. Expressed in units measuring area: square feet. b. Having a specified length in each of two equal dimensions: a room that is 12 feet square. 5. Having a base that is a square: a square pyramid. 6. Nautical Set at right angles to the mast and keel. Used of the yards of a square-rigged ship. 7. Approximately rectangular and equilateral in cross section: a square house. 8. Characterized by blocklike solidity or sturdiness. 9. Honest; direct: a square answer. 10. Just; equitable: a square deal. 11. Having all accounts settled; even: I paid what I owed you, so we're square. 12. Sports Even; tied. 13. Slang Rigidly conventional; dull. v. squared, squar·ing, squares v.tr. 1. To cut to a square or rectangular shape. Often used with off. 2. To test or adjust for conformity to a desired plane, straight line, or right angle. 3. To mark into squares. Often used with off. 4. a. To bring into conformity or agreement: She could not square the request with her principles. b. To bring (oneself) into a better position or relation: He tried to square himself with his parents. 5. To set straight or at approximate right angles: square one's cap. 6. To bring into balance; settle: square a debt. 7. Sports To even the score of: to square a game. 8. Mathematics a. To raise (a number or quantity) to the second power. b. To find a square equal in area to (the area of a given figure). 9. Informal To bribe or fix: a party in litigation that tried to square the judge. v.intr. 1. Mathematics To be at right angles. 2. To agree or conform: a story that doesn't square with the facts. adv. 1. Mathematics At right angles. 2. In a square shape. 3. In a solid manner; firmly. 4. Directly; straight: ran square into each other. 5. In an honest, straightforward manner.Phrasal Verbs: square away 1. Nautical To square the yards of a sailing vessel. 2. To put away or in order. square off To assume a fighting stance; prepare to fight. square up To settle a bill or debt.Idioms: on the square 1. Mathematics At right angles. 2. Honestly and openly: has always dealt on the square. out of square 1. Mathematics Not at exact right angles. 2. Not in agreement. square peg in a round hole Informal A misfit. three squares a day Informal Three square meals eaten in a day. [Middle English, from Old French esquarre, from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from *exquadrāre, to square : Latin ex-, ex- + quadrāre, to give a square shape to (from quadrum, a square; see kwetwer- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots).] squareness n. squarer n. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. 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