squat

(skwŏt)

v. squat·ted, squat·ting, squats

v.intr.

1. To sit in a crouching position with knees bent and the buttocks on or near the heels.

2. To crouch down, as an animal does.

3. To settle on unoccupied land without legal claim.

4. To occupy a given piece of public land in order to acquire title to it.

v.tr.

1. To put (oneself) into a crouching posture.

2. To occupy as a squatter.

3. Sports To lift (an amount of weight) when doing a squat.

adj. squat·ter, squat·test

1. Short and thick; low and broad.

2. Crouched in a squatting position.

1. The act of squatting.

2. A squatting or crouching posture.

3. Sports A lift or a weightlifting exercise in which one squats and stands while holding a weighted barbell supported by the back of the shoulders.

4. Chiefly British The place occupied by a squatter.

5. The lair of an animal such as a hare.

6. Slang A small or worthless amount; diddly-squat.

[Middle English squatten, from Old French esquatir, to crush : es-, intensive pref. (from Latin ex-; see ex-) + quatir, to press flat (from Vulgar Latin *coāctīre, from Latin coāctus, past participle of cōgere, to compress : co-, co- + agere, to drive; see ag- in Indo-European roots).]

squat′ter n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

squatter

(ˈskwɒtə)

1. (Law) a person who occupies property or land to which he or she has no legal title

2. (Law) (in Australia)

a. (formerly) a person who occupied a tract of land, esp pastoral land, as tenant of the Crown

b. a farmer of sheep or cattle on a large scale

3. (Law) (in New Zealand) a 19th-century settler who took up large acreage on a Crown lease

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

squat•ter

(ˈskwɒt ər)

n.

1. a person or thing that squats.

2. a person who occupies property without permission, lease, or payment of rent.

3. a person who settles on land under government regulation, in order to acquire title.

[1775–85]

squat′ter•dom, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	squatter - someone who settles lawfully on government land with the intent to acquire title to it homesteader, nester colonist, settler - a person who settles in a new colony or moves into new country
	2.	squatter - someone who settles on land without right or title interloper, intruder, trespasser - someone who intrudes on the privacy or property of another without permission

Translations

occupante abusivo

squatter

[ˈskwɒtəʳ] N → ocupa mf, okupa mf

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

squatter

[ˈskwɒtə^r] n → squatter m, squatteur/euse m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

squatter

n (on land) → Squatter(in) m(f), → illegaler Siedler, illegale Siedlerin; (in house) → Hausbesetzer(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

squatter

[ˈskwɒtəʳ] n → occupante m/f abusivo/a

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

"They have robbed the squatter of his beasts!" said the attentive trapper.

"Don't call the squatter a friend of mine!" interrupted the youth.

I had lined a beautiful swarm that very day into the hollow of a dead beech, and there lay the people's officer at its roots, with a hole directly through the 'grace of God;' which he carried in his jacket pocket covering his heart, as if he thought a bit of sheepskin was a breastplate against a squatter's bullet!

"Owners!" echoed the squatter, "I am as rightful an owner of the land I stand on, as any governor in the States!

The summons of the unnurtured squatter brought an immediate accession to their party.

View in context

Not far from me was a little one-roomed squatter's hut of wood, surrounded by a patch of potato garden.

View in context

These are all the materials, excepting the timber, stones, and sand, which I claimed by squatter's right.

One farmer said that it was "good for nothing but to raise cheeping squirrels on." I put no manure whatever on this land, not being the owner, but merely a squatter, and not expecting to cultivate so much again, and I did not quite hoe it all once.

View in context

While the agitated parent was listening to the vivid description that his daughter gave of her recent danger, and her unexpected escape, all thoughts of mines, vested rights, and examinations were absorbed in emotion; and when the image of Natty again crossed his recollection, it was not as a law Less and depredating squatter, but as the preserver of his child.

View in context

Before joining the highroad we followed a mere path through the forest; and the country, with the exception of a few squatters' huts, was very solitary.

View in context

Perling assemblyman Cheo Yee How said the Johor Baru district, which is partly within his constituency, has many unresolved squatter problems and the state government needs to address the issue.

State rep moots special task force to look into squatter issues in Johor

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the Duterte administration should not make haste in relocating squatter families as it embarks on an ambitious project to rehabilitate Manila Bay.

Manila Bay squatters may have their own ideas on proposed relocation