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squatter

 - 7 dictionary results
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squat⋅ter

  [skwot-er]
Use squatter in a Sentence
–noun
1. a person or thing that squats.
2. a person who settles on land or occupies property without title, right, or payment of rent.
3. a person who settles on land under government regulation, in order to acquire title.
Origin:
1775–85; squat + -er 1

Related forms:
squat⋅ter⋅dom, noun
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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, esp. 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, esp. 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.
–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.
16. a place occupied by squatters.
Origin:
1250–1300; (v.) ME squatten < OF esquater, esquatir, equiv. to es- ex- 1 + quatir < VL *coactīre to compress, equiv. to L coāct(us), ptp. of cōgere to compress (co- co- + ag(ere) to drive + -tus ptp. suffix) + -īre inf. suffix; (n.) ME, deriv. of the v.; (adj.) ME: in a squatting position, orig., ptp. of the v.

Related forms:
squatly, adverb
squatness, noun

Synonyms:
8. dumpy, stocky, square.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To squatter
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.

adj.   squat·ter, squat·test

  1. Short and thick; low and broad.

  2. Crouched in a squatting position.

n.  

  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. The place occupied by a squatter.

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

  6. Slang A small or worthless amount; diddlysquat.


[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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
squat

  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.
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Word Origin & History

squat  (v.)
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 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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: squat·ter
Pronunciation: 'skwä-t&r
Function: noun
: a person who occupies real property without a claim of right or title
NOTE: In most jurisdictions, a squatter cannot gain title to land through adverse possession because adverse possession requires possession of the property under a claim of right or color of title.
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Encyclopedia

squatter

in 19th-century Australian history, an illegal occupier of crown grazing land beyond the prescribed limits of settlement. The inroad of squatters contributed to the growth of the country's wool industry and to the development of a powerful social class in Australian life. By the late 1840s the authorities recognized the economic good derived from the squatters' activity and issued them leases for their sheep runs and tenure extending as long as 14 years. By this time the squatters had a hold on the land; many had become wealthy grandees.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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