squat

American  

[skwot] / skwɒt /

verb (used without object)

• squats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• squatted,
  past participle,  past
• squat,
  past participle,  past
• squatting
  present participle

1. to sit in a low or crouching position with the legs drawn up closely beneath or in front of the body; sit on one's haunches or heels.

2. to crouch down or cower, as an animal.

3. to settle on or occupy property, especially otherwise unoccupied property, without any title, right, or payment of rent.

4. to settle on public land under government regulation, in order to acquire title.

5. Nautical. (of a vessel, especially a power vessel) to draw more water astern when in motion forward than when at rest.

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verb (used with object)

• squats,
  present (3rd person singular)
• squatted,
  past participle,  past
• squat,
  past participle,  past
• squatting
  present participle

1. to cause to squat.

2. to occupy (property) as a squatter.

adjective

squatter, squattest

1. (of a person, animal, the body, etc.) short and thickset.

   Synonyms:

   blocky, stocky, dumpy

2. low and thick or broad.

   The building had a squat shape.

3. seated or being in a squatting position; crouching.

noun

• squats
  plural

1. the act or fact of squatting.

2. a squatting position or posture.

3. a weightlifting exercise in which a person squats and then returns to an erect position while holding a barbell at the back of the shoulders.

4. Nautical. the tendency of a vessel to draw more water astern when in motion than when stationary.

5. Slang. diddly-squat.

6. a place occupied by squatters.

squat British  

/ skwɒt /

verb

1. to rest in a crouching position with the knees bent and the weight on the feet

2. to crouch down, esp in order to hide

3. law (tr) to occupy land or property to which the occupant has no legal title

4. weightlifting to crouch down to one's knees and rise to a standing position while holding (a specified weight) behind one's neck

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adjective

1. Also: squatty.  short and broad

   a squat chair

noun

1. a squatting position

2. weightlifting an exercise in which a person crouches down and rises up repeatedly while holding a barbell at shoulder height

3. a house occupied by squatters

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• squatness
  noun
• squatly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• squats
  plural

Participles

• squatting
  present
• squat
  past
• squatted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• squat
  simple
• squats
  simple
• have squat
  perfect
• have squatted
  perfect
• has squat
  perfect
• has squatted
  perfect
• am squatting
  progressive
• are squatting
  progressive
• is squatting
  progressive
• have been squatting
  perfect progressive
• has been squatting
  perfect progressive

Past

• squat
  simple
• squatted
  simple
• had squat
  perfect
• had squatted
  perfect
• was squatting
  progressive
• were squatting
  progressive
• had been squatting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will squat
  simple
• will have squat
  perfect
• will have squatted
  perfect
• will be squatting
  progressive
• will have been squatting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of squat

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English (verb) squatten, from Old French esquater, esquatir, equivalent to es- + quatir, from unattested Vulgar Latin coactīre “to compress,” equivalent to Latin coāct(us), past participle of cōgere “to compress” ( co- + ag(ere) “to drive” + -tus past participle suffix) + -īre infinitive suffix; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the verb; see origin at ex- ¹, co-

Explanation

If you crouch down very low and sit on your heels, you squat. If you have to talk to a small child, you might have to squat to talk face-to-face. The verb squat also means to illegally occupy a building — especially to live in it. If you own vacant property, you need to be careful that someone doesn't decide to squat in the empty house. As an adjective, squat describes someone who is very short and thick. In the movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the dwarfs are depicted as squat little men.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

squat squats squatter squatted squatting

A squat little gem painted gold, filled with vermouth jelly, surrounded by blueberry toast.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

Situational and other companies share two floors, an outdoor patio with couches and heat lamps, and a gym with Situational Awareness-branded weights on the squat rack.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026

Increasingly, the journey starts with a squat silver floor robot gliding beneath a storage rack, lifting a shelf and carrying it across a warehouse to a waiting worker.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

He can squat 640 pounds, which puts him on another level in the weight room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2026

As the truck turns onto Flores Road, which goes between two fields of yellow wildflowers and squat oak trees, there’s a flash of light in the ditch.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

We performed classic moves: squats, crunches, high and low planks and bird dogs, among them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

He has them doing hip thrusts, banded side lunges, goblet curtsy squats and cable kickbacks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026

Examples include chair squats, heel drops, and wall push-ups.

From Science Daily ● May 1, 2026

They use a "flywheel exercise device," similar to a yo-yo, that can allow for aerobics like rowing as well as provide resistance to perform moves like weighted squats and deadlifts.

From Barron's ● Apr. 4, 2026

He borrows some toothpaste, squats at the river, dips his toothbrush into the murky water, and cleans his broken teeth.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Patent and Trademark Office, Tesla said Unibev was “a bad-faith trademark squatter, who started as a Tesla fan” and described the French company’s attempt to trademark the Cybercab moniker as fraudulent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026

“At least I eat sometimes,” said Cedric Mnisi, 39, who lives in a squatter camp nearby.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025

She excelled on stage and screen in Alan Bennett’s “The Lady in the Van,” playing a crotchety squatter with an imperious sense of entitlement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024

The woman whose keen eyes once watched over her family in the squalor of the squatter camps now lives in a world of darkness and sounds.

From BBC ● May 25, 2024

They then organized an election in which Scott triumphed, and he moved back to the squatter camp, taking Father Dlamini with him.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Many others throughout the country -- particularly around the capital Tirana and Albania's principal port, Durres, were simply squatted.

From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026

Others squatted on balcony steps or leaned against walls for the roughly 90-minute service.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026

As the hours wore on, people in line squatted or sat on the concrete to rest their aching legs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025

Two accounts on Instagram called the Camden Art Cafe and Autonomous Winter Shelter have posted about a "new squatted community space" at the York & Albany hotel.

From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2024

The chicken coop squatted between the pigsty and the mango tree, a branch of which held one end of Mami’s laundry line, the other end stretched to the trunk of an acerola bush.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Still, the only two clubs with a lower average attendance are the sad-sack Miami Marlins and the homeless Athletics, who are currently squatting at a Triple-A stadium in West Sacramento, Calif.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

KeyBanc analyst Ashley Owens wrote in a Thursday noet that some Reddit reviews of a Valentine’s edition line of pants with a “scattered heart” pattern indicate that the fabric becomes see-through when bending and squatting.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 12, 2026

The actress said the following day she "went to the set and, because I was squatting on the floor, all het up, I farted in front of him. I was mortified".

From BBC ● Feb. 11, 2026

She has been in intensive therapy this week, posting videos of her squatting, jumping and moving laterally in a knee brace.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2026

There were no urinals, only a few stalls with sitting toilets—none of the squatting ones, like my bathroom at Mamou’s—and I wondered if that was a Social Cue I had missed.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

Related Words

• cower
• crouch
• hunch
• perch
• sit
• stoop