squat Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun exercising by repeatedly assuming a crouching position with the knees bent; strengthens the leg muscles
    knee bend; squatting.
  2. noun a small worthless amount
    diddlyshit; shit; diddly-squat; diddly-shit; jack; diddly; diddley; diddlysquat; doodly-squat.
    • you don't know jack
  3. noun the act of assuming or maintaining a crouching position with the knees bent and the buttocks near the heels
    squatting.
  4. verb sit on one's heels
    scrunch; crouch; hunker down; hunker; scrunch up.
    • In some cultures, the women give birth while squatting
    • The children hunkered down to protect themselves from the sandstorm
  5. verb be close to the earth, or be disproportionately wide
    • The building squatted low
  6. verb occupy (a dwelling) illegally
  7. adjective satellite short and thick; as e.g. having short legs and heavy musculature
    squatty; low-set; chunky; dumpy; stumpy.
    • some people seem born to be square and chunky
    • a dumpy little dumpling of a woman
    • dachshunds are long lowset dogs with drooping ears
    • a little church with a squat tower
    • a squatty red smokestack
    • a stumpy ungainly figure
  8. adjective satellite having a low center of gravity; built low to the ground
    underslung.

WordNet

Squat noun
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The angel fish (Squatina angelus).
Squat intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. squatten to crush, OF. esquater, esquatir (cf. It. quatto squat, cowering), perhaps fr. L. ex + coactus, p. p. cogere to drive or urge together. See Cogent, Squash, v. t.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Squatted; present participle & verbal noun Squatting
Definitions
  1. To sit down upon the hams or heels; as, the savages squatted near the fire.
  2. To sit close to the ground; to cower; to stoop, or lie close, to escape observation, as a partridge or rabbit.
  3. To settle on another's land without title; also, to settle on common or public lands.
Squat transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To bruise or make flat by a fall. Obs.
Squat adjective
Definitions
  1. Sitting on the hams or heels; sitting close to the ground; cowering; crouching.
    Him there they found, Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve. Milton.
  2. Short and thick, like the figure of an animal squatting. "The round, squat turret." R. Browning.
    The head [of the squill insect] is broad and squat. Grew.
Squat noun
Definitions
  1. The posture of one that sits on his heels or hams, or close to the ground.
  2. A sudden or crushing fall. Obs. erbert.
  3. (Mining) (a) A small vein of ore. (b) A mineral consisting of tin ore and spar. Halliwell. Woodward.

Webster 1913