over using reverb wont squash the sound. Squashing term is use more to describe the effect of compression where according to the setting, once the signal hit certain level, it will trigger the compression circuit and pull it down to a value as set. The higher the compression rate, the faster and larger amount of signal that will be squashed, accordingly, by means of compression.
With reverb, it is a artificial mean to mimic a space, dimension, background of which the instrument is being played in, the reflection of sound hitting surfaces and boucing back to our ears. Too much of it usually resulted in long decay of the sound which is due to the simulated means of reflection of sound is more then the source sound thats hitting the surfaces, similar to delay oscillation where the feedback of the delayed signal is more than the actual source of sound thats being delayed
Too much of such effect sound is usually refered to as wet, opposing the uneffected, dry signal.
Certain terms to describe sound are usually fixed, through out articles and books written on sound. Even though it might not be the best to describe sound(ironic aint it, using words to describe something which we hear when our hearing capability aint being measured in linear scale, in the first place) but certain characteristic of sound is usually tagged with certain words of description.
For reverb, in a normal sense, theres hardly anyone using reverb to boost our signal as the action of boosting, refers to having an increment in the decibel level of the original sound, pushing the level of the geetar signal above whats originally at.
With reverb, it is usually the case of having a blend, mixture of the dry and wet(effected reverberated) signal There should be not much boosting of the signal level as whats being done, is a simulated sound of the space which the instrument is being played in.
