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squat

   [skwot] ,verb, squat·ted or squat, squat·ting, adjective, squat·ter, squat·test, noun
verb (used without object)
1.
to sit in a low or crouching position with the legs drawn up closely beneath or in front of the body; sit on one's haunches or heels.
2.
to crouch down or cower, as an animal.
3.
to settle on or occupy property, especially otherwise unoccupied property, without any title, right, or payment of rent.
4.
to settle on public land under government regulation, in order to acquire title.
5.
Nautical. (of a vessel, especially a power vessel) to draw more water astern when in motion forward than when at rest.
verb (used with object)
6.
to cause to squat.
7.
to occupy (property) as a squatter.

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Squat is one of our favorite verbs.
So is absquatulate. Does it mean:
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
to flee; abscond:
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adjective
8.
(of a person, animal, the body, etc.) short and thickset.
9.
low and thick or broad: The building had a squat shape.
10.
seated or being in a squatting position; crouching.
noun
11.
the act or fact of squatting.
12.
a squatting position or posture.
13.
a weightlifting exercise in which a person squats and then returns to an erect position while holding a barbell at the back of the shoulders.
14.
Nautical. the tendency of a vessel to draw more water astern when in motion than when stationary.
15.
Slang. doodly-squat.
EXPAND
16.
a place occupied by squatters.
COLLAPSE
Origin:
1250–1300; (v.) Middle English squatten < Old French esquater, esquatir, equivalent to es- ex-1 + quatir < Vulgar Latin *coactīre to compress, equivalent to Latin coāct(us), past participle of cōgere to compress (co- co- + ag(ere) to drive + -tus past participle suffix) + -īre infinitive suffix; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.; (adj.) Middle English: in a squatting position, orig., past participle of the v.

Related forms
squat·ly, adverb
squat·ness, noun

Synonyms
8. dumpy, stocky, square.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Squat
Example Sentences
  • Instead of coming in briefcase-sized packaging, the powders are in squat boxes not much bigger.
  • DiA, you clearly know diddly squat about basic economics.
  • SO all these rankings tell squat about the quality of education one receives in a university.
EXPAND
Collins
World English Dictionary
squat (skwɒt)
 
—vb , squats, squatting, squatted
1.  to rest in a crouching position with the knees bent and the weight on the feet
2.  to crouch down, esp in order to hide
3.  (tr) law to occupy land or property to which the occupant has no legal title
4.  weightlifting to crouch down to one's knees and rise to a standing position while holding (a specified weight) behind one's neck
 
—adj
5.  Also: squatty short and broad: a squat chair
 
—n
6.  a squatting position
7.  weightlifting an exercise in which a person crouches down and rises up repeatedly while holding a barbell at shoulder height
8.  a house occupied by squatters
 
[C13: from Old French esquater, from es-ex-1 + catir to press together, from Vulgar Latin coactīre (unattested), from Latin cōgere to compress, from co- + agere to drive]
 
'squatly
 
—adv
 
'squatness
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

squat
c.1410, "crouch on the heels," from O.Fr. esquatir "press down, lay flat, crush," from es- "out" (from L. ex-) + O.Fr. quatir "press down, flatten," from V.L. *coactire "press together, force," from L. coactus, pp. of cogere "to compel, curdle, collect" (see cogent). Slang
EXPAND
sense of "nothing at all" first attested 1934, probably suggestive of squatting to defecate. The adjective sense of "short, thick" dates from 1630. Squatter "settler who occupies land without legal title" first recorded 1788; in ref. to paupers or homeless people in uninhabited buildings, it is recorded from 1880.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

diddly-squat definition

[ˈdɪdliskwɑt] and [ˈdudliskwɑt]
and (doodly-)squat
  1. n.
    nothing. (Folksy. Originally black or southern.) : This contract isn't worth diddly-squat.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

squat definition


  1. in.
    to sit (down). : Come on in and squat for a while.
  2. n.
    nothing. (See also diddly-squat.) : I earn just a little more than squat, but I am very pleased with my life.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
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