(squats, squatting, squatted)
1.
If you squat, you lower yourself towards the ground, balancing on your feet with your legs bent.
We squatted beside the pool and watched the diver sink slowly down...
He came over and squatted on his heels, looking up at the boys.
= crouch
VERB: V, V on n
•
Squat down means the same as
squat.
Albert squatted down and examined it...
She had squatted down on her heels.
PHRASAL VERB: V P, V P prep
•
Squat is also a noun.
He bent to a squat and gathered the puppies on his lap.
N-SING: a N
2.
If you describe someone or something as squat, you mean they are short and thick, usually in an unattractive way.
Eddie was a short squat fellow in his forties with thinning hair.
ADJ: usu ADJ n
3.
People who squat occupy an unused building or unused land without having a legal right to do so.
You can't simply wander around squatting on other people's property...
They earn their living by squatting the land and sharecropping.
VERB: V, V n
4.
A squat is an empty building that people are living in illegally, without paying any rent or any property tax.
After returning from Paris, David moved to a squat in Brixton...
N-COUNT