The verb 'squeeze' emerged in English around the early 16th century. Its origin is considered imitative or expressive, likely arising from the sound or physical sensation associated with pressing or crushing something wet or soft. It is possibly a blend or alteration of older words like the obsolete English 'quease' (to squeeze) and the Middle English 'wheese' (to wheeze), converging to describe the act of applying pressure. From this concrete, sensory origin, the meaning broadened metaphorically to encompass extracting liquid or information, as well as the abstract sense of forcing something into a confined space or situation.

The word 'squeezed' is the inflected past tense and past participle form of the verb 'squeeze'. The root 'squeeze' is considered a single, unsegmentable morpheme in modern English.