squat
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsquatsquat1 /skɒwt $ skwɑːt/ ●○○ verb (squatted, squatting) [intransitive]1
SITto sit with your knees bent under you and your bottom just off the ground, balancing on your feetsquat downHe squatted down beside the little girl.► see thesaurus at sit2 LIVE SOMEWHEREto live in a building or on a piece of land without permission and without paying rent→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpussquat• People squatted around the fire in small groups• A little boy was squatting at the edge of the pool.• He squatted down beside me and offered me a cigarette.• Thousands of families are still squatting in war-damaged buildings.• It squatted incongruously among the trees, looking like a visitor from another planet.• Finally he broke away and went and squatted on his haunches by the stream.• The trail was half lost in fog, the overcast squatted on the mountain. squatsquat2 adjectiveLOWSHORT PERSONshort and thick or low and wide, especially in a way which is not attractivesquat stone cottagesa squat little old man Examples from the Corpussquat• The brown buildings were old and squat.• Comanche tipis were more squat and conical.• a shabby, squat, balding man in an old raincoat• Ravi-no stood looking, his squat body immensely still.• And now this desperate damage: the squat compactness unhinged, made powerless.• The floor was covered in thick creamy carpet on which stood squat, natural leather chairs.• During the greater part of each contest, the two are settled in a squat position, measuring each other.• He came at last to Kinton, rounded the squat, square-towered church and the main street of the village stretched before him.• The cook was short and squat, with thick eyebrows and a slight moustache. squatsquat3 noun1 SIT[countable] a squatting position2 [countable] British EnglishLIVE SOMEWHERE a house that people are living in without permission and without paying rentShe lives in a squat in Camden.3 [uncountable] American English informal nothing, or nearly nothing. Squat is often used in negative sentences for emphasisHe had a job that paid him squat.You don’t know squat about it. Examples from the Corpussquat• He was in that terrible state of lumbar pain where mobility involves a slow ambulatory squat.• Most of them have moved off since they broke the squat.• The rubber band workout group improved 26 percent in the squat and 17 percent in the shoulder press.From Longman Business Dictionarysquatsquat1 /skɒwtskwɑːt/ verb (squatted, squatting) [intransitive]PROPERTY to live in a building or on a piece of land without permission and without paying rentThere are people squatting in the house next door.→ See Verb tablesquatsquat2 noun [singular] British EnglishPROPERTY a house that people are living in without permission and without paying rentOrigin squat1 (1300-1400) Old French esquatir, from quatir “to press”, from Vulgar Latin coactire “to press together”, from Latin cogere; → COGENT squat2 (1600-1700) squat “in a squatting position” ((15-19 centuries)), from an old past participle of → SQUAT1 squat3 1. (1500-1600) → SQUAT12. (1900-2000) diddlysquat; → DIDDLY
SITto sit with your knees bent under you and your bottom just off the ground, balancing on your feetsquat downHe squatted down beside the little girl.► see thesaurus at sit2 LIVE SOMEWHEREto live in a building or on a piece of land without permission and without paying rent→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpussquat• People squatted around the fire in small groups• A little boy was squatting at the edge of the pool.• He squatted down beside me and offered me a cigarette.• Thousands of families are still squatting in war-damaged buildings.• It squatted incongruously among the trees, looking like a visitor from another planet.• Finally he broke away and went and squatted on his haunches by the stream.• The trail was half lost in fog, the overcast squatted on the mountain. squatsquat2 adjectiveLOWSHORT PERSONshort and thick or low and wide, especially in a way which is not attractivesquat stone cottagesa squat little old man Examples from the Corpussquat• The brown buildings were old and squat.• Comanche tipis were more squat and conical.• a shabby, squat, balding man in an old raincoat• Ravi-no stood looking, his squat body immensely still.• And now this desperate damage: the squat compactness unhinged, made powerless.• The floor was covered in thick creamy carpet on which stood squat, natural leather chairs.• During the greater part of each contest, the two are settled in a squat position, measuring each other.• He came at last to Kinton, rounded the squat, square-towered church and the main street of the village stretched before him.• The cook was short and squat, with thick eyebrows and a slight moustache. squatsquat3 noun1 SIT[countable] a squatting position2 [countable] British EnglishLIVE SOMEWHERE a house that people are living in without permission and without paying rentShe lives in a squat in Camden.3 [uncountable] American English informal nothing, or nearly nothing. Squat is often used in negative sentences for emphasisHe had a job that paid him squat.You don’t know squat about it. Examples from the Corpussquat• He was in that terrible state of lumbar pain where mobility involves a slow ambulatory squat.• Most of them have moved off since they broke the squat.• The rubber band workout group improved 26 percent in the squat and 17 percent in the shoulder press.From Longman Business Dictionarysquatsquat1 /skɒwtskwɑːt/ verb (squatted, squatting) [intransitive]PROPERTY to live in a building or on a piece of land without permission and without paying rentThere are people squatting in the house next door.→ See Verb tablesquatsquat2 noun [singular] British EnglishPROPERTY a house that people are living in without permission and without paying rentOrigin squat1 (1300-1400) Old French esquatir, from quatir “to press”, from Vulgar Latin coactire “to press together”, from Latin cogere; → COGENT squat2 (1600-1700) squat “in a squatting position” ((15-19 centuries)), from an old past participle of → SQUAT1 squat3 1. (1500-1600) → SQUAT12. (1900-2000) diddlysquat; → DIDDLY