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squarer; squarest
4
a
: being or converted to a unit of area equal in measure to a square each side of which measures one unit of a specified unit of length
see Metric System Table, Weights and Measures Table
5
a
: exactly adjusted : precisely constructed or aligned
c
: leaving no balance : settled
e
f
: being unsophisticated, conservative, or conventional
squareness
noun
squared; squaring
squarer
noun
Synonyms
Example Sentences
Noun
The fabric is decorated with circles and squares.
Cut the brownies into squares.
The board has red and black squares.
Adjective
The room has four square corners.
received a square hearing from the disciplinary panel
Verb
The machine squares the wood into flat boards.
If you square 3, you get 9.
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Recent Examples on the Web
Paul Richardson, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Jan. 2023
There are few restaurants downtown, so the city has invited food trucks to set up by the courthouse square.
—Valerie Bauerlein, WSJ, 23 Jan. 2023
But really, the important thing to note in terms of orbits is that the gravitational force on the object decreases with the square of the object’s distance from the center of the Earth.
—WIRED, 20 Jan. 2023
Made by court jewelers Garrard in 1920, according to the auction house, the pendant features square-cut amethyst stones in the shape of a cross, decorated with circular-cut diamonds in a distinct flowery design.
—Amarachi Orie, CNN, 19 Jan. 2023
The Attallah Cross is designed by royal jeweler Garrad and is made of square-cut amethysts that are accented by circular-cut diamonds.
—Isiah Magsino, Town & Country, 18 Jan. 2023
The Kardashians star bid for the piece — which features square-cut amethysts accented by circular-cut diamonds weighing in at 5.25 carats — and eventually snagged it for $197,453 within the last five minutes.
—Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 18 Jan. 2023
The Attallah Cross—a pendant worn by Princess Diana made of square-cut amethysts accentuated by circular diamonds—sold for $197,453 at auction in London today.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 18 Jan. 2023
The Good Housekeeping Institute evaluated 33 different pairs of tweezers that fell into four categories: slanted, pointed, point-and-slant tip and square.
—Birnur K. Aral, Good Housekeeping, 13 Jan. 2023
Bob Sandrick, cleveland, 24 Jan. 2023
The resort, which is just under a million square feet, comes with plenty of attractions, including a mile and a half of private beach, the largest exclusive stretch in Dubai.
—Glenn Garner, Peoplemag, 23 Jan. 2023
The job cuts along with other cost-saving efforts, including putting hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space up for sublease, aim to get Wayfair back to profitability sooner, Shah said in an interview with the Globe.
—Aaron Pressman, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Jan. 2023
In terms of heat, it's said to be able to heat a standard room up to 400 square feet.
—Alec Scherma, Good Housekeeping, 19 Jan. 2023
This Coway air purifier can handle room sizes up to 361 square feet.
—Kevin Cortez, Popular Mechanics, 18 Jan. 2023
The rental units will be about 280 to 400 square feet and include a bed, bathroom, small kitchen and living area.
—Blake Apgar, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Dec. 2022
The current square footage is 58,327, which will increase to 60,745 square feet when the project is completed, said Kathy Gavin, director of finance for District 807.
—Elena Ferrarin, Chicago Tribune, 20 Dec. 2022
Recommended for medium rooms (up to 155 square feet), the Honeywell HPA 100 features four air cleaning levels that work to filter and circulate air up to 4.8 times an hour.
—Stephanie Mlot, PCMAG, 9 Dec. 2022
Quanta Magazine, 20 Jan. 2023
According to the American Trucking Associations’ 2019 driver shortage report, there are now nearly three commercial driver’s license holders for every job that requires one in the US: strange stats to square with a shortage.
—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
The triple-mixed metaphor says it all: Licht & Co. are struggling with the intractable problem of how to square the CNN brand’s promise — straight news — with the entertainment imperatives of nighttime television.
—Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2022
So the animated world of Harley Quinn (where Harley is in a committed relationship with Poison Ivy and recently joined the Batfam) doesn’t have to square itself against the Snyderverse (where Harley is straight, and also dead).
—Vulture, 27 Nov. 2022
At another point, Mr. Fetterman was asked to square his support for natural-gas fracking, an important economic driver in parts of Pennsylvania, with a past statement in opposition.
—Aaron Zitner, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2022
The Blue Devils marched 80 yards in 11 plays for its first TD capped by Bernard’s 16-yard keeper to square it at 7-all with 1:35 left.
—Brad Emons, Detroit Free Press, 22 Oct. 2022
Instead, Si Woo Kim made a 4-foot birdie putt to square the match on the 16th, and a 5-foot par putt to keep it tied on the 17th.
—BostonGlobe.com, 24 Sep. 2022
LaVine and Dosunmu both left Young wide open behind the 3-point arc in the third quarter, giving him time to square his shoulders and take a deep breath before sinking a shot to pull the Hawks within five points.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 22 Dec. 2022
Cai Cramer, Peoplemag, 21 Sep. 2022
Indeed, Sunni Sunni’s styles, including square-toed mules with bold chain hardware and colorful heeled boots with python-print embossing, are available in a full range of men’s and women’s sizing.
—New York Times, 24 Mar. 2022
Trapani said Schild exited the backyard through a side gate and charged at officers while holding a metal framing square over his head.
—Perry Vandell, The Arizona Republic, 3 Jan. 2022
Healdsburg's redwood- and Bradford pear–canopied square.
—Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 4 Oct. 2021
Sarah Flint looked at pointe slippers—somewhat square-toed, but also rounded—in the design of these flats.
—Alexis Bennett, Vogue, 1 Apr. 2021
The driver got out to assess the damage, and the cyclist punched him square in the face.
—Molly Longman, refinery29.com, 22 Mar. 2021
Cut parts square and then trim away a few whisper-fine shavings of wood for a furniture-quality fit.
—Thomas Klenck, Popular Mechanics, 20 June 2020
Even in the Midwest, where the thin-crusted, square-cut pizzas originated, tavern pies tend to play second fiddle to the deep dish and pan pies of the world.
—Michael Russell, oregonlive, 25 Mar. 2020
See More
Noun
The intersection of del Parlament and del Comte Borrell is now traffic-free, with trees and benches—an impromptu square for socializing.
—Paul Richardson, Condé Nast Traveler, 23 Jan. 2023
There are few restaurants downtown, so the city has invited food trucks to set up by the courthouse square.
—Valerie Bauerlein, WSJ, 23 Jan. 2023
But really, the important thing to note in terms of orbits is that the gravitational force on the object decreases with the square of the object’s distance from the center of the Earth.
—WIRED, 20 Jan. 2023
Made by court jewelers Garrard in 1920, according to the auction house, the pendant features square-cut amethyst stones in the shape of a cross, decorated with circular-cut diamonds in a distinct flowery design.
—Amarachi Orie, CNN, 19 Jan. 2023
The Attallah Cross is designed by royal jeweler Garrad and is made of square-cut amethysts that are accented by circular-cut diamonds.
—Isiah Magsino, Town & Country, 18 Jan. 2023
The Kardashians star bid for the piece — which features square-cut amethysts accented by circular-cut diamonds weighing in at 5.25 carats — and eventually snagged it for $197,453 within the last five minutes.
—Michelle Lee, Peoplemag, 18 Jan. 2023
The Attallah Cross—a pendant worn by Princess Diana made of square-cut amethysts accentuated by circular diamonds—sold for $197,453 at auction in London today.
—Christian Allaire, Vogue, 18 Jan. 2023
The Good Housekeeping Institute evaluated 33 different pairs of tweezers that fell into four categories: slanted, pointed, point-and-slant tip and square.
—Birnur K. Aral, Good Housekeeping, 13 Jan. 2023
Adjective
DiGeronimo said the grocery store would measure between 15,000 and 40,000 square feet.
—Bob Sandrick, cleveland, 24 Jan. 2023
The resort, which is just under a million square feet, comes with plenty of attractions, including a mile and a half of private beach, the largest exclusive stretch in Dubai.
—Glenn Garner, Peoplemag, 23 Jan. 2023
The job cuts along with other cost-saving efforts, including putting hundreds of thousands of square feet of office space up for sublease, aim to get Wayfair back to profitability sooner, Shah said in an interview with the Globe.
—Aaron Pressman, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Jan. 2023
In terms of heat, it's said to be able to heat a standard room up to 400 square feet.
—Alec Scherma, Good Housekeeping, 19 Jan. 2023
This Coway air purifier can handle room sizes up to 361 square feet.
—Kevin Cortez, Popular Mechanics, 18 Jan. 2023
The rental units will be about 280 to 400 square feet and include a bed, bathroom, small kitchen and living area.
—Blake Apgar, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 Dec. 2022
The current square footage is 58,327, which will increase to 60,745 square feet when the project is completed, said Kathy Gavin, director of finance for District 807.
—Elena Ferrarin, Chicago Tribune, 20 Dec. 2022
Recommended for medium rooms (up to 155 square feet), the Honeywell HPA 100 features four air cleaning levels that work to filter and circulate air up to 4.8 times an hour.
—Stephanie Mlot, PCMAG, 9 Dec. 2022
Verb
Over the course of the fall, many experts came to suspect that tweaks to the IMF and other factors could be enough to square the very ancient galaxies lighting upon JWST’s instruments with ΛCDM.
—Quanta Magazine, 20 Jan. 2023
According to the American Trucking Associations’ 2019 driver shortage report, there are now nearly three commercial driver’s license holders for every job that requires one in the US: strange stats to square with a shortage.
—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
The triple-mixed metaphor says it all: Licht & Co. are struggling with the intractable problem of how to square the CNN brand’s promise — straight news — with the entertainment imperatives of nighttime television.
—Erik Wemple, Washington Post, 22 Dec. 2022
So the animated world of Harley Quinn (where Harley is in a committed relationship with Poison Ivy and recently joined the Batfam) doesn’t have to square itself against the Snyderverse (where Harley is straight, and also dead).
—Vulture, 27 Nov. 2022
At another point, Mr. Fetterman was asked to square his support for natural-gas fracking, an important economic driver in parts of Pennsylvania, with a past statement in opposition.
—Aaron Zitner, WSJ, 26 Oct. 2022
The Blue Devils marched 80 yards in 11 plays for its first TD capped by Bernard’s 16-yard keeper to square it at 7-all with 1:35 left.
—Brad Emons, Detroit Free Press, 22 Oct. 2022
Instead, Si Woo Kim made a 4-foot birdie putt to square the match on the 16th, and a 5-foot par putt to keep it tied on the 17th.
—BostonGlobe.com, 24 Sep. 2022
LaVine and Dosunmu both left Young wide open behind the 3-point arc in the third quarter, giving him time to square his shoulders and take a deep breath before sinking a shot to pull the Hawks within five points.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 22 Dec. 2022
Adverb
Similar to a circle but with a sharper jawline is the square-shaped face.
—Cai Cramer, Peoplemag, 21 Sep. 2022
Indeed, Sunni Sunni’s styles, including square-toed mules with bold chain hardware and colorful heeled boots with python-print embossing, are available in a full range of men’s and women’s sizing.
—New York Times, 24 Mar. 2022
Trapani said Schild exited the backyard through a side gate and charged at officers while holding a metal framing square over his head.
—Perry Vandell, The Arizona Republic, 3 Jan. 2022
Healdsburg's redwood- and Bradford pear–canopied square.
—Kathryn Romeyn, Travel + Leisure, 4 Oct. 2021
Sarah Flint looked at pointe slippers—somewhat square-toed, but also rounded—in the design of these flats.
—Alexis Bennett, Vogue, 1 Apr. 2021
The driver got out to assess the damage, and the cyclist punched him square in the face.
—Molly Longman, refinery29.com, 22 Mar. 2021
Cut parts square and then trim away a few whisper-fine shavings of wood for a furniture-quality fit.
—Thomas Klenck, Popular Mechanics, 20 June 2020
Even in the Midwest, where the thin-crusted, square-cut pizzas originated, tavern pies tend to play second fiddle to the deep dish and pan pies of the world.
—Michael Russell, oregonlive, 25 Mar. 2020
See More
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'square.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, from Anglo-French esquarre, from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from *exquadrare to square, from Latin ex- + quadrare to square — more at quadrate
First Known Use
Noun
13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Adjective
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Adverb
circa 1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of square was
in the 13th century
Phrases Containing square
Articles Related to square
Dictionary Entries Near square
Cite this Entry
“Square.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/square. Accessed 2 Feb. 2023.
Kids Definition
square
1 of 4 noun
ˈskwa(ə)r 
ˈskwe(ə)r
square
2 of 4 adjective
squarer; squarest
squareness
noun
Medical Definition
square
adjective
More from Merriam-Webster on square
Nglish: Translation of square for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of square for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about square
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