squat

¹squat

verb \ˈskwät\

squat·tedsquat·ting

Definition of SQUAT

transitive verb

1

: to cause (oneself) to crouch or sit on the ground

2

: to occupy as a squatter <squat in an abandoned building>

intransitive verb

1

: to crouch close to the ground as if to escape observation <a hare squatting in the grass>

2

: to assume or maintain a position in which the body is supported on the feet and the knees are bent so that the buttocks rest on or near the heels

3

: to be or become a squatter

Examples of SQUAT

1. He squatted behind the bush to avoid being seen.
2. A family has been squatting in that house for months.

Origin of SQUAT

Middle English squatten to crush, crouch in hiding, from Middle French (Picard dialect) esquatir, escuater, from Old French es- ex- + quatir to hide, from Vulgar Latin *coactire to squeeze, alteration of Latin coactare to compel — more at cache

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to SQUAT

Synonyms

couch, huddle, hunch, hunker (down), scrunch, crouch, squinch

Related Words

curl up

Rhymes with SQUAT

aught, baht, blot, bot, clot, cot, dot, ghat, grot, hot, jot, khat, knot, kyat, lot, lotte, Mott, motte, naught, not, plot, pot, rot, scot, Scot, shot, skat, slot, snot, sot, spot, stot, swat, swot, tot, trot, watt, Watt, what, wot, yacht

²squat

adjective

squat·tersquat·test

Definition of SQUAT

1

: sitting with the haunches close above the heels

2

a : low to the ground

b : marked by disproportionate shortness or thickness

— squat·ly adverb

— squat·ness noun

First Known Use of SQUAT

15th century

Related to SQUAT

Synonyms

chunky, dumpy, heavyset, stocky, squatty, stout, stubby, stumpy, thickset

Related Words

beefy, brawny, bulky, burly, husky, sturdy, thick, thickish, weighty; chubby, corpulent, fat, fleshy, full, gross, heavy, obese, overweight, plump, portly, pudgy, roly-poly, rotund, round, tubby; paunchy, potbellied; flabby, soft

Near Antonyms

delicate, fragile, frail, puny; lean, skinny, slender, slim, spare, thin; angular, bony (also boney), gaunt, lank, lanky, rawboned, sinewy; scraggy, scrawny, slight; anorexic, cadaverous, emaciated, haggard, skeletal, wasted; spindly, twiggy, waspish, weedy, willowy, wiry

³squat

noun

Definition of SQUAT

1

a : the act of squatting

b : the posture of one that squats

2

a : a place where one squats

b : the lair of a small animal <the squat of a hare>

3

: a lift in which a standing weight lifter drops to a squatting position and then rises to an upright position while holding a barbell on the shoulders; also : a competitive event involving this lift

4

chiefly British : an empty house or building that is occupied by squatters

5

slang : diddly-squat

Examples of SQUAT

1. He didn't do squat all day.
2. She lives in a squat.

First Known Use of SQUAT

1580

Related to SQUAT

Synonyms

beans, bubkes (also bupkes or bupkus), continental, damn, darn (also durn), diddly [slang], diddly-squat [slang], doodley-squat (or doodly-squat), fig, ghost, hoot, iota, lick, modicum, rap, jot [slang], syllable, tittle, whit, whoop

Related Words

ace, bit, crumb, dab, driblet, glimmer, hint, little, mite, nip, ounce, particle, peanuts, pin, ray, scrap, scruple, semblance, shade, shadow, shred, skosh, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), snap, speck, spot, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, touch, trace