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

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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-

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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

The training consisted of four wall squat holds per session, with two minutes of seated recovery between each hold.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026

His squat thighs keep his legs bent for more of the pedal stroke, another wind-resistance advantage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

It’s big, too, nearly 10 miles long, and peaky, with some squat concrete buildings up at the crest of one of the hills, and a single telegraph pole.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

Joe Porter toured the squat apartment building in L.A.’s Koreatown five years ago, excited to be leaving his parents’ house in Arkansas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026

I’m not lying: I added another forty-two squat thrusts before Coach Reed called time.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

Common examples include wall squats, planks, and handgrip exercises.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2026

In that smaller study, 24 older adults performed just 30 seconds of push-ups and squats each day.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 2026

And in the weight room, Smith takes a break from squats and bench press to pump iron—with his fingers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Bodyweight training, also known as calisthenics, uses your own body weight for exercises such as push-ups, squats and pull-ups to help build strength.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Then he counts off, squats low, tosses her straight up into the air, and catches her in a full extension instead of a half-press like Coach said.

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

A room built for the NFL Rams and co-occupied by the squatter Chargers felt like a proper football cathedral.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

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

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

During the summer of 1812, the Indigenous alliance struck US forts and squatter settlements.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Clad in sleek workout sets and armed with dumbbells, the women squatted, lunged, twisted and pressed with militaristic synchrony in a room heated to 96 degrees.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2026

Star running back Jadan Baugh squatted such an astronomical number—600 pounds—that the conditioning staff prohibited him from throwing any more weight on the machine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

It is an imposing black puck of a building squatted over the most claustrophobic transit hub in America.

From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026

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

The Crochan squatted in its corner, black and baleful.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander

Turns out the average time it takes to pass a bowel movement is shorter if you're squatting.

From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026

He says he’s squatting more than 500 pounds and lifting 110-pound dumbbells.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026

Her early success "only intensified her commitment to stand by the common man - squatting with vendors, arriving wherever there was trouble, dressing simply and making it her hallmark style".

From BBC ● May 5, 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

A murmur of voices reached him and he quickly stepped into an alcove, squatting beside a drinking fountain as two men and a woman walked past, all wearing white coats, arguing about Web servers.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz

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Related Words

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• crouch
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