/ skwɒt; NAmE skwɑːt/ verb , noun , adjective
■ verb ( -tt- )
1.
[ v ] squat (down) to sit on your heels with your knees bent up close to your body
2.
to live in a building or on land which is not yours, without the owner's permission :
[ v ]
They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road.
[also vn ]
■ noun
1.
( especially BrE ) a building that people are living in without permission and without paying rent :
to live in a squat
2.
a squatting position of the body
3.
= squat thrust
■ adjective
short and wide or fat, in a way that is not attractive :
a squat tower
a squat muscular man with a shaven head
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (in the sense thrust down with force ): from Old French esquatir flatten, based on Latin coactus , past participle of cogere compel, from co- together + agere drive The current sense of the adjective dates from the mid 17th cent.