square
adjective
uk/skweər/ us(written abbreviation UK sq); (written abbreviation US sq.) MEASURES, PROPERTY
used before units of measurement to describe the size of an area, especially an area of land. An area of 100 square metres is equal in size to 100 squares with sides that are 1 metre long:
100 square metres/kilometres/miles, etc. About 81,000 square metres of office space is due to be completed in the City this year.
100 square feet/foot/inches, etc. The house has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in about 4,700 square feet.
New Jersey has an average of well over 1,000 people per square mile.
Permeable concrete costs about $9 per square foot.
[ after noun ] MEASURES
used after units of measurement to describe the size of an area. An area of 10 metres square is equal in size to a square with sides that are 10 metres long, or equal to 100 square metres:
10 metres/feet/foot, etc. square We will deliver items to a maximum size of three feet square.
10 miles/kilometres, etc. square The city has a population of 1 million crammed into an area only a few miles square.
be (all) square
to be in a situation in which everyone or everything is equal and no one has an advantage over anyone else:
Dealers claim that after Wednesday's bout of profit-taking, the market is 'all square' again.
if people are all square, all debts between them have been paid and no one owes or is owed any money:
If I give you another $5, then we're all square.
square
noun [ C, usually singular ]
uk/skweər/ usthe result of multiplying a number by itself:
The square of 7 is 49.
be back to square one informal
to not have made any progress after trying to succeed or achieve something:
While congestion charging had an initial impact, many cities are almost back to square one in terms of traffic volumes.
See also
market square
square
verb
uk/skweər/ us [ T ] FINANCE
to reach an agreement with someone:
square sth with sb The company's full-year results will be postponed until it has squared a new agreement with its lenders.
A state-owned bank had to be brought in, in order to square the deal.
[ I ] (also square up)
if two things that should be the same do not square, they seem different or show different results:
A Superior Court judge ruled that the tape and the officers' reports "didn't square".
square the books
ACCOUNTING
to make sure that you have paid all the money you owe, or that you have received all the money that other people owe you:
Currency traders are squaring their books ahead of the long holiday weekend.
square the circle
to solve a very difficult situation or problem:
He will have to square the circle of how to sell at current prices while cutting the cost of production to make a profit.
Phrasal verbs
square sth away
square off
square up
square up to sb/sth
square with