Definition of "squat"

squat¹

/skwɒt/

adjective
comparative squatter, superlative squattest
1. Relatively short or low, and thick or broad.
  Quotations
  The SQUILL-INSECT. […] So called from ſome ſimilitude to the Squill-fiſh: chiefly, in having a long Body cover'd with a Cruſt compoſed of ſeveral Rings or Plates. The Head is broad and ſquat. He hath a pair of notable ſharp Fangs before, both hooked inward like a Bulls horns.
  1681, Nehemiah Grew, “Of Creeping Insects [part I, section VII, chapter III]”, in Musæum Regalis Societatis. Or a Catalogue & Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham College. [...] Whereunto is Subjoyned the Comparative Anatomy of Stomachs and Guts, London: Printed by W. Rawlins, for the Author, page 176
  What in the midst lay but the Tower itself? / The round squat turret, blind as the fool's heart, / Built of round stone, without a counterpart / In the whole world. […]
  1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, in Men and Women, London: Chapman & Hall, stanza XXXI
  On the gentle slopes there are farms, ancient and rocky, with squat, moss-coated cottages brooding eternally over old New England secrets in the lee of great ledges […]
  1927 March, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, “The Colour Out of Space”, in Amazing Stories, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, published September 1927
2. Sitting on one's heels; sitting close to the ground; cowering or crouching.
  Quotations
  [H]im there they found, / Squat like a toad, cloſe at the ear of Eve, / Aſſaying by his deviliſh art to reach / The organs of her fancy', and with them forge / Illuſions as he liſt, phantaſms and dreams, […]
  1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, lines 799–803
noun
plural squats
1. A position assumed by bending deeply at the knees while resting on one's feet.
  Quotations
  Sit in a squat, with your feet a comfortable distance apart.
  2006, Yael Calhoun, Matthew R. Calhoun, Create a Yoga Practice for Kids: Fun, Flexibility, and Focus, Santa Fe, N.M.: Sunstone Press, page 72
2. (exercise) Any of various modes of callisthenic exercises performed by moving the body and bending at least one knee.
  1. (weightlifting) A specific exercise in weightlifting performed by bending deeply at the knees and then rising (back squat), especially with a barbell resting across the shoulders (barbell back squat).
    Quotations
    The king of all quad exercises, and arguably the best single-weight resistance exercise, is the squat.
    2001, Robert Wolff, Robert Wolff's Book of Great Workouts: Everything You Need to Know to Vary Your Routine and Keep You Motivated, Lincolnwood and Chicago, Ill.: Contemporary Books, pages 58–59
3. A building occupied without permission, as practiced by a squatter.
  Quotations
  "Keeping your friends warm and dry, that doesn't happen here. If you want to spend a night in a squat, it's all political to get in." Lately, as buildings have filled and become stringent about new admissions, much of the squatters' "My house is your house" rhetoric has become hollow.
  1996 July 8, Chris Smith, “Live free or die”, in New York, New York, N.Y.: New York Magazine Co., page 36
4. A place of concealment in which a hare spends time when inactive, especially during the day; a form.
5. A toilet used by squatting as opposed to sitting; a squat toilet.
6. (slang, Canada, US) Clipping of diddly-squat; something of no value.
  Quotations
  We didn't ask for rent, but we assumed they'd help around the house. But they don't do squat.
  2003 May 6, “Dear Dotti: America's Most Outspoken Advice Columnist”, in Weekly World News, volume 24, number 34, New York, N.Y.: American Media, page 23
  "Joke's on you. They're used to me mostly talking about superficial stuff. Nobody's going to notice squat."
  2022 October 19, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022
7. (mining) A small vein of ore.
8. A mineral consisting of tin ore and spar.
  Quotations
  A Mineral, very ponderous, and probably holding Tin. […] 'Twas part of a Squat, at Hewas-Work; not far from Polgouth, in St. Stephen's Liberty, Cornwall.
  1728, J[ohn] Woodward, “Earths and Earthy Substances”, in A Catalogue of the Additional English Native Fossils, in the Collection of J. Woodward M.D., tome II, London: […] F[rancis] Fayram, […]; J[ohn] Senex, […]; and J. Osborn and T[homas] Longman, […], page 23
9. (obsolete) A sudden or crushing fall.
  Quotations
  bruises, and squats, and falls, which often kill others
  1652, George Herbert, “Treatise of Temperance and Sobriety”, in Herbert's Remains, Or, Sundry Pieces Of that sweet Singer of the Temple
verb
third-person singular simple present squats, present participle squatting, simple past and past participle squatted
1. To bend deeply at the knees while resting on one's feet.
  Quotations
  He was not going to squat henlike on his place as the cockies around him did.
  1901, Miles Franklin, “An Introduction to ’Possum Gully”, in My Brilliant Career, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, page 10
2. (exercise) To perform one or more callisthenic exercises by moving the body and bending at least one knee.
  1. (weightlifting) To exercise by bending deeply at the knees and then rising, while bearing weight across the shoulders or upper back.
    Quotations
    For those who are having, or have had, trouble squatting we suggest learning how to squat by performing the front squat […] The front squat allows you almost no alternative but to perform the exercise correctly.
    1994, Kurt Brungardt, Mike Brungardt, Brett Brungardt, The Complete Book of Butt and Legs, New York, N.Y.: Villard Books, page 161
3. To occupy or reside in a place without the permission of the owner.
  Quotations
  Huddled together in loathsome files, they squat there over night, or until an inquisitive policeman breaks up the congregation with his club, which in Mulberry Street has always free swing.
  1890, Jacob A[ugust] Riis, “A Raid on the Stale-beer Dives”, in How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, page 77
4. To sit close to the ground; to stoop, or lie close to the ground, for example to escape observation.
  Quotations
  "But there seemed to be little satisfaction got out of this run; every moment the hare squatted, and the hounds lost the scent time after time."
  1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 76
5. (dated) To bruise or flatten by a fall; to squash.
6. (Internet) To cybersquat.
  Quotations
  The old homepage for L2TP, www.l2tpd.org, has been squatted by a domain squatter. A malicious person could reinstate this domain with malicious code on it.
  2006, Paul Wouters, Ken Bantoft, Building and Integrating Virtual Private Networks with Openswan

squat²

noun
plural squats
1. The angel shark (genus Squatina).

Definition of "squat"

squat1

adjective

Quotations

Quotations

noun

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

verb

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

Quotations

squat2

noun

squat¹

squat²