squat

verb
UK: /skwɒt/
US: /skwɑːt/

  1. To lower your body by bending your knees and hips, keeping your back straight.

    1. I squat to pick up the box, then stand up.
    2. She had to squat down to examine the tiny wildflowers growing near the stream.

  2. To position oneself close to the ground with the knees bent and the body low, often resting on the heels or balls of the feet.

    1. We squat by the fire to keep warm.
    2. The children squat down in the garden, looking for interesting insects.

  3. To illegally occupy a building or land.

    1. People squat in the empty building.
    2. The activists decided to squat in the abandoned offices as a form of protest.

Synonyms

crouch stoop hunker occupy short stocky
squat noun

  1. The act of lowering the body by bending the knees.

    1. Do ten squats every morning.
    2. The trainer demonstrated the proper form for a weightlifting squat.

  2. A building or piece of land that is occupied illegally.

    1. The old house is a squat now.
    2. The city council is trying to evict the people living in the squat.
squat adjective

  1. Short and thickset; low and wide.

    1. The dog is squat and sturdy.
    2. We passed a squat building, which did not look very inviting from the outside.

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "squat" in English means: To lower your body by bending your knees and hips, keeping your back straight., To position oneself close to the ground with the knees bent and the body low, often resting on the heels or balls of the feet., To illegally occupy a building or land..

The phonetic transcription of "squat" is /skwɒt/ in British English and /skwɑːt/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "squat": crouch, stoop, hunker, occupy, short, stocky.

Example usage of "squat": "I squat to pick up the box, then stand up.". More examples on the page.