squat - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (2024)

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Middle English squatten, from Old French esquatir, escatir (“compress, press down, lay flat, crush”), from es- (“ex-”) + quatir (“press down, flatten”), from Vulgar Latin *coactire (“press together, force”), from Latin coactus, perfect passive participle of cōgō (“force together, compress”).

The sense “nothing” may be the source or a derivation of diddly-squat.

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /skwɒt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /skwɑt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒt

Adjective[edit]

squat (comparative squatter, superlative squattest)

1. Relatively short or low, and thick or broad.

   • 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, →OCLC, page 176:

     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.

   • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, in Men and Women, London: Chapman & Hall, →OCLC, stanza XXXI:

     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. […]

   • 1927 March, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, “The Colour Out of Space”, in Amazing Stories, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, published September 1927, →ISSN:

     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 […]

2. Sitting on one's heels; sitting close to the ground; cowering or crouching.

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost.[…], London: […] [Samuel Simmons],[…], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books:[…], London: Basil Montagu Pickering[…], 1873, →OCLC, lines 799–803:

     [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, […]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

squat (plural squats)

1. A position assumed by bending deeply at the knees while resting on one's feet.

   • 2006, Yael Calhoun, Matthew R. Calhoun, Create a Yoga Practice for Kids: Fun, Flexibility, and Focus, Santa Fe, N.M.: Sunstone Press, →ISBN, page 72:

     Sit in a squat, with your feet a comfortable distance apart.

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).

      • 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, →ISBN, pages 58–59:

        The king of all quad exercises, and arguably the best single-weight resistance exercise, is the squat.

3. A building occupied without permission, as practiced by a squatter.

   • 1996 July 8, Chris Smith, “Live free or die”, in New York, New York, N.Y.: New York Magazine Co., →ISSN, page 36:

     "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.

     See Also

     Property Abandonment in Florida: Definitions and Remedies - South Florida Law, PLLCWhat Homeowners Should Know About The Eviction Process in Florida in 2024Responding To A Court Order For Eviction - Civil Law Self-Help CenterChapter 705 Section 102 - 2011 Florida Statutes

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.

   Synonyms: nothing; see also Thesaurus:nothing

   I know squat about nuclear physics.

   • 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, →ISSN, page 23:

     We didn't ask for rent, but we assumed they'd help around the house. But they don't do squat.

   • 2022 October 19, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022:

     "Joke's on you. They're used to me mostly talking about superficial stuff. Nobody's going to notice squat."

7. (mining) A small vein of ore.
8. A mineral consisting of tin ore and spar.

   • 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,[…], →OCLC, page 23:

     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.

9. (obsolete) A sudden or crushing fall.

   • 1652, George Herbert, “Treatise of Temperance and Sobriety”, in Herbert's Remains, Or, Sundry Pieces Of that sweet Singer of the Temple:

     bruises, and squats, and falls, which often kill others

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

squat (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.

   • 1901, Miles Franklin, “An Introduction to ’Possum Gully”, in My Brilliant Career, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 10:

     He was not going to squat henlike on his place as the co*ckies around him did.

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.

      • 1994, Kurt Brungardt, Mike Brungardt, Brett Brungardt, The Complete Book of Butt and Legs, New York, N.Y.: Villard Books, →ISBN, page 161:

        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.

3. To occupy or reside in a place without the permission of the owner.

   • 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, →OCLC, page 77:

     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.

4. To sit close to the ground; to stoop, or lie close to the ground, for example to escape observation.

   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 76:

     "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."

5. (dated) To bruise or flatten by a fall; to squash.
6. (Internet) To cybersquat.

   • 2006, Paul Wouters, Ken Bantoft, Building and Integrating Virtual Private Networks with Openswan:

     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.

Derived terms[edit]

Related terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From Latin squatina.

Noun[edit]

squat (plural squats)

1. The angel shark (genus Squatina).

References[edit]

• “squat”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams[edit]

• Quast, quats

French[edit]

French Wikipedia has an article on:

squat

Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology[edit]

From English squat.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /skwat/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun[edit]

squatm (plural squats)

1. Squat (building occupied without permission, as practiced by a squatter)

   taper un squat

   to squat an apartment; do stupid and useless things

2. uninvited presence in a building or place (the result of which can be welcomed)

   on va taper un squat chez Jérôme ?

   let's crash at Jérôme's place?

3. squat effect

   Parmi les inconvénients du squat, la modification de l’écoulement des filets d’eau, perturbé par la proximité du fond, provoque des difficultés de gouverne, des vibrations, et une diminution de la vitesse.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

4. (weightlifting) Squat

   C’est Vlad Alhazov qui détient le record du monde au squat, avec 1250lbs (566,99 kilo).

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Related terms[edit]

• squattage
• squatter
• squattériser
• squatteur

Further reading[edit]

• “squat”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Polish[edit]

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

squat

Wikipedia ^pl

Alternative forms[edit]

• skłot

Etymology[edit]

Unadapted borrowing from English squat, from Middle English squatten, from Old French esquatir, escatir, from es- (“ex-”) + quatir, from Vulgar Latin *coactire, from Latin coactus.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /skwat/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -at
• Syllabification: squat

Noun[edit]

squatminan

1. squat (building occupied without permission by squatters)

Declension[edit]

Related terms[edit]

noun

Further reading[edit]

• squat in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈskwat/ [ˈskwat̪], /esˈkwat/ [esˈkwat̪]
• Rhymes: -at

Noun[edit]

squatm (plural squats)

1. squat (exercise)

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