Nearby Words

squatted

Origin

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.

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Squatted is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
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.
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.

squat·ly, adverb
squat·ness, noun


8. dumpy, stocky, square.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To squatted
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
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

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
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature