squeaker

English

Synodontis grandiops

Etymology

Etymology tree

English squeak

Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.

Proto-Italic *-āzijos

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

English -er

English squeaker

From squeak + -er.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈskwiː.kə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈskwi.kəɹ/
• Rhymes: -iːkə(ɹ)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -squeak, -er

Noun

squeaker (plural squeakers)

1. One who or that which squeaks.
   1. (Internet slang) A young user on a voice chat system who has a high-pitched voice.
   2. A party toy that uncoils with a squeaking sound when blown; a party puffer.
   3. An animal that squeaks.
      • 1887, The Child's Own Magazine, page 31:

        Then there are the giant mice on two legs, that keep cruel monsters to eat you up, and lay traps for innocent little squeakers like yourselves.

      1. An Australian grey crow-shrike or grey currawong (Strepera versicolor plumbea).
      2. A piglet of the wild boar.
      3. Any of the family Arthroleptidae of frogs.
      4. Any of the genus Synodontis of catfish.
      5. (informal) A young bird.

         Hypernyms: cheeper; see also Thesaurus:bird

         1. (informal) A squab; a young domestic pigeon still in the nest.
            • 2021 November 28, Azeefa Fathima, “Birds of a feather rejoice together in this TN man's home”, in New Indian Express, Good News:

              […] A break from the routine of mundanity made the 40-year-old from Sivakasi revisit a childhood memory revolving a squeaker that was gifted to him by a relative. He recalls looking after the bird for a few years until he couldn’t do it anymore. The recollection set free the joy in the aviary of his heart after three decades and he settled on rearing his feathered friends thereafter.

            Hypernyms: see Thesaurus:columbid

2. (slang) An informer.
4. (US) A game or election won by a narrow margin.
   • 2024 October 3, Dana Taylor, “Allan Lichtman shares his 2024 presidential election prediction”, in USA Today‎^[1] (podcast transcript), The Excerpt:

     I mentioned that you correctly predicted nine of the last 10 presidential election outcomes, save one, in 2000 when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore, and that was a squeaker.

5. (slang) An act of flatulence; a fart.
   • 2014, Daley James Francis, Walking Up a Slide:

     He sat down, let out a squeaker, and then unloaded his entire wedding breakfast into the pan. Cheers buddy. Nothing kills a moment of nostalgia better than a fat man using the shithouse.

6. (slang) A child, especially an illegitimate one.

Translations

one who or that which squeaks

• Spanish: chillón (es) m

a young user on a voice chat system who has a high-pitched voice

• Finnish: helari (fi)
• Spanish: niño rata (es) m, niña rata f

References

• “squeaker”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Further reading

• “squeaker n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present.