apretar

Inherited from Late Latin appectorāre (undergoing metathesis in Old Spanish; compare similar occurrences in pretal, pretil, pretina), from Latin pectus (“chest”). Compare Portuguese apertar, Catalan apitrar.

• IPA^(key): /apɾeˈtaɾ/ [a.pɾeˈt̪aɾ]

• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: a‧pre‧tar

apretar (first-person singular present aprieto, first-person singular preterite apreté, past participle apretado)

1. (transitive) to squeeze
2. (transitive) to tighten, constrict or compress
3. (transitive) to press (e.g., a button)
4. (transitive) to pull (e.g., the trigger)
5. (transitive) to grit (e.g., one's teeth), to clench (e.g., one's fist)
6. (transitive) to push down (e.g., a toilet plunger)
7. (transitive) to hold back
8. (transitive) to hold on to something

• “apretar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
• “apretar”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010

• partera
• trapear