I. squat 1 /skɒwt $ skwɑːt/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle squatted , present participle squatting ) [intransitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: esquatir , from quatir 'to press' , from Vulgar Latin coactire 'to press together' , from Latin cogere ; ⇨ ↑ cogent ]
1 . to sit with your knees bent under you and your bottom just off the ground, balancing on your feet
squat down
He squatted down beside the little girl.
2 . to live in a building or on a piece of land without permission and without paying rent
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THESAURUS
▪ sit to be resting your weight on your bottom somewhere, or to move into this position:
He was sitting in front of the fire.
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She sat on the bed and kicked off her shoes.
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Who is the man sitting next to Karen?
▪ sit down to sit on a chair, bed, floor etc after you have been standing:
I sat down on the sofa.
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Come in and sit down.
▪ be seated formal to be sitting in a particular chair or place:
John was seated on my left.
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There was a man seated behind the desk.
▪ take a seat to sit – used especially when asking someone to sit down:
Please take a seat – she will be with you in a minute.
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Would the audience please take their seats – the show will begin in five minutes.
▪ sink into something to sit in a comfortable chair and let yourself fall back into it:
We switched on the TV and sank into our armchairs.
▪ lounge to sit in a very comfortable relaxed way:
They lounged around all day by the pool.
▪ perch to sit on the edge of something:
He perched on the arm of the sofa.
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My sister was perched (=was sitting) on a high stool.
▪ be slumped to be sitting while leaning against something, especially because you are injured, drunk, or asleep:
They found him slumped against the steering wheel.
▪ squat to sit with your knees bent under you, your bottom just off the ground, balancing on your feet:
A little boy was squatting at the edge of the pool.
II. squat 2 BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: squat 'in a squatting position' (15-19 centuries) , from an old past participle of ⇨ ↑ squat 1 ]
short and thick or low and wide, especially in a way which is not attractive:
squat stone cottages
a squat little old man
III. squat 3 BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1-2: Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ squat 1 ]
[ Sense 3: Date: 1900-2000 ; Origin: diddlysquat ; ⇨ ↑ diddly ]
1 . [countable] a squatting position
2 . [countable] British English a house that people are living in without permission and without paying rent:
She lives in a squat in Camden.
3 . [uncountable] American English informal nothing, or nearly nothing. Squat is often used in negative sentences for emphasis:
He had a job that paid him squat.
You don’t know squat about it.