Skip to content
WORDS, MADE CLEAR.
Your everyday English companion

English dictionary

square Meaning & Definition

/skwɛə(ɹ)/

What Does Square Mean?

Square is a noun that means A polygon with four straight sides of equal length and four right angles; an equilateral rectangle; a regular quadrilateral. It can also mean Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form. A cell in a grid. As an adjective, it means Shaped like a square (the polygon). As an adverb, it means Directly.

Word Facts for Square

Part of speechnoun, adjective, adverb, verb
Pronunciation/skwɛə(ɹ)/
Synonymsconventional, straightforward and honest
Antonymsround, circular and crooked
Pluralsquares
Comparative / superlativesquarer, squarest
Verb formssquares, squaring, squared

Square Definition (Noun)

  1. A polygon with four straight sides of equal length and four right angles; an equilateral rectangle; a regular quadrilateral.
  2. Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form. A cell in a grid.

    You may not move a piece to a square already occupied by one of your own pieces.

  3. A cell in a grid.

    You may not move a piece to a square already occupied by one of your own pieces.

  4. A square piece, part, or surface.

    a square of glass

  5. The front of a woman's dress over the bosom, usually worked or embroidered.
  6. A dessert cut into rectangular pieces, or a piece of such a dessert.
  7. A certain number of lines, forming a portion of a column, nearly square; used chiefly in reckoning the prices of advertisements in newspapers.
  8. An L- or T-shaped tool used to place objects or draw lines at right angles.
  9. A true measure, standard, or pattern.
  10. An open space or park, often in the center of a town, not necessarily square in shape, often containing trees, seating and other features pleasing to the eye.
  11. A street surrounding a public square or plaza.
  12. The product of a number or quantity multiplied by itself; the second power of a number, value, term or expression.

    64 is the square of 8.

  13. A pattern to be matched that consists of a subpattern repeated, such as "papa" or "wikiwiki".

    Squares cannot be easily matched by regular expressions.

  14. A body of troops drawn up in a square formation.
  15. A socially conventional or conservative person; a person who has little or no interest in the latest fads or trends.

    Why do you always wear a tie? Don't be such a square!

  16. The symbol # on a telephone; hash.

    Enter your account number followed by a square.

  17. The central area of a cricket field, with one or more pitches of which only one is used at a time.

    An ideal playing area is roughly circular in shape with a central area, the cricket square, measuring 27.44 metres by 27.44 metres and boundaries 45.75 metres from the sides of the square.

  18. A unit of measurement of area, equal to a 10 foot by 10 foot square, i.e. 100 square feet or roughly 9.3 square metres. Used in real estate for the size of a house or its rooms, though progressively being replaced by square metres in metric countries such as Australia.
  19. A unit used in measuring roof area equivalent to 100 square feet (9.29 m²) of roof area. The materials for roofing jobs are often billed by the square in the United States.
  20. A mortarboard.
  21. Ellipsis of square meal.

    Even when times were tough, we got three squares a day.

  22. Exact proportion; justness of workmanship and conduct; regularity; rule.
  23. The relation of harmony, or exact agreement; equality; level.
  24. The position of planets distant ninety degrees from each other; a quadrate.
  25. The act of squaring, or quarrelling; a quarrel.
  26. Cigarette.
  27. A vat used for fermentation.
  28. A well-defined torso.

Square as an Adjective

  1. Shaped like a square (the polygon).
  2. Forming a right angle (90°).

    a square corner

  3. Forming right angles in all planes as intended; not racked or leaning.

    The foundation has to be level and the framing has to be square.

  4. Forming right angles with the mast or the keel, and parallel to the horizon; said of the yards of a square-rigged vessel when they are so braced.
  5. Used in the names of units of area formed by multiplying a unit of length by itself.

    A floor that measures 4 feet square has an area of 16 square feet.

  6. Honest; straightforward; fair.

    I'm just looking for a square deal on my car repair.

  7. Satisfied; comfortable with; not experiencing any conflict.
  8. Even; tied

    to make or leave the accounts square

  9. Socially conventional; boring.
  10. In line with the batsman's popping crease.
  11. Solid, decent, substantial.

    It may be prison, but at least I'm getting three square meals a day.

  12. Having a shape broad for the height, with angular rather than curving outlines.

    a man of a square frame

  13. Of an internal combustion engine design, in which the diameter of the piston is similar, roughly, approximately, equal to its stroke distance.

Square as an Adverb

  1. Directly.

Square as a Verb

  1. To adjust so as to align with or place at a right angle to something else; in particular:

    The casting was mounted on a milling machine so that its sides could be squared.

  2. To place at a right angle to the mast or keel.

    to square the yards

  3. To rotate the oars so that they are perpendicular to the water.
  4. To resolve or reconcile; to suit or fit.

    John can square this question up for us.

  5. To adjust or adapt so as to bring into harmony with something.

    I cannot square the results of the experiment with my hypothesis.

  6. Of a value, term, or expression, to multiply by itself; to raise to the second power.
  7. To draw, with a pair of compasses and a straightedge only, a square with the same area as.

    square the circle

  8. To tile (completely fill) with squares.
  9. To settle; to put right.
  10. To make a short low pass sideways across the pitch
  11. To take opposing sides; to quarrel.
  12. To accord or agree exactly; to be consistent with; to suit; to fit.
  13. To go to opposite sides; to take an attitude of offense or defense, or of defiance; to quarrel.
  14. To take a boxing attitude; often with up or off.
  15. To form with four sides and four right angles.
  16. To form with right angles and straight lines, or flat surfaces.

    to square mason's work

  17. To compare with, or reduce to, any given measure or standard.
  18. To hold a quartile position respecting.

Noun

  1. A polygon with four sides of equal length and four right angles; an equilateral rectangle; a regular quadrilateral.
  2. Something characterized by a square, or nearly square, form.
  3. (1950s slang) A socially conventional or conservative person; a person who has little or no interest in the latest fads or trends: still sometimes used in modern terminology.

    Why do you always wear a tie? Don't be such a square!

  4. (roofing) A unit used in measuring roof area equivalent to 100 square feet (9.29 m2) of roof area.
  5. (academia) A mortarboard
  6. A square meal.

    Even when times were tough, we got three squares a day.

Adjective

  1. Forming a right angle, especially at right angles with the mast or the keel, and parallel to the horizon; said of the yards of a square-rigged vessel when they are so braced.

    a square corner

  2. Of numbers formed by multiplying two equal numbers.

    9 is a square number.

  3. Honest; straightforward.

    square dealing

  4. Fair.

    I'm just looking for a square deal on my car repair.

  5. Correctly aligned with respect to something else.
  6. Hearty; vigorous.

    It may be prison, but at least I'm getting three square meals a day.

Synonyms of Square

Square synonyms and antonyms →

Antonyms of Square

Square in a Sentence

You may not move a piece to a square already occupied by one of your own pieces.

a square of glass

64 is the square of 8.

Squares cannot be easily matched by regular expressions.

Why do you always wear a tie? Don't be such a square!

Enter your account number followed by a square.

An ideal playing area is roughly circular in shape with a central area, the cricket square, measuring 27.44 metres by 27.44 metres and boundaries 45.75 metres from the sides of the square.

Even when times were tough, we got three squares a day.

a square corner

The foundation has to be level and the framing has to be square.

A floor that measures 4 feet square has an area of 16 square feet.

square mile

I'm just looking for a square deal on my car repair.

square dealing

to make or leave the accounts square

The sides were square at the end of the half.

It may be prison, but at least I'm getting three square meals a day.

a man of a square frame

The casting was mounted on a milling machine so that its sides could be squared.

to square the yards

John can square this question up for us.

These results just don't square with what we expected.

I cannot square the results of the experiment with my hypothesis.

to square our actions by the opinions of others

square the circle

to square mason's work

9 is a square number.

square metre

Word Forms & Grammar

square (plural squares)

square (comparative squarer, superlative squarest)

square (comparative more square, superlative most square)

square (third-person singular simple present squares, present participle squaring, simple past and past participle squared)

Words That Rhyme With Square

Origin of Square

Origin 1: From Middle English square, sqware, squyre; from Old French esquarre, esquerre, (modern French équerre), from Vulgar Latin *exquadra, from Latin ex- +‎ quadro, from quadrus (compare English quad and quadra). Doublet of squad and squadra.

Origin 2: Displaced Old English fēowerecge (fēower nominative + ecg accusative, as in "four-edged").

Quick Answers About Square

Is square a noun or an adjective?

Square is mainly used as a noun, but it can also be used as an adjective, an adverb and a verb.

What is another word for square?

Close synonyms of square are conventional, straightforward and honest. See the full list of square synonyms and antonyms.

What is the opposite of square?

Words opposite in meaning to square are round, circular and crooked.

What is the plural of square?

The plural of square is squares.

What is the past tense of square?

The past tense of square is squared. The present participle is squaring.

More About Square On Meaning Stash

More Words Starting With “Squ”