squatter Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun someone who settles lawfully on government land with the intent to acquire title to it
    nester; homesteader.
  2. noun someone who settles on land without right or title
  3. adjective satellite short and thick; as e.g. having short legs and heavy musculature
    squat; 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
  4. adjective satellite having a low center of gravity; built low to the ground
    squat; underslung.

WordNet

Squat"ter noun
Definitions
  1. One who squats; specifically, one who settles unlawfully upon land without a title. In the United States and Australia the term is sometimes applied also to a person who settles lawfully upon government land under permission and restrictions, before acquiring title.
    In such a tract, squatters and trespassers were tolerated to an extent now unknown. Macaulay.
  2. (Zoöl.) See Squat snipe, under Squat.

Webster 1913