squat

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squat / skwät/ • v. (squat·ted, squat·ting) 1. [intr.] crouch or sit with one's knees bent and one's heels close to or touching one's buttocks or the back of one's thighs: I squatted down in front of him. ∎  [tr.] Weightlifting crouch down in such a way and rise again while holding (a specified weight) at one’s shoulders: he can squat 850 pounds.2. [intr.] unlawfully occupy an uninhabited building or settle on a piece of land: eight families are squatting in the house. ∎  [tr.] occupy (an uninhabited building) in such a way.• adj. (squat·ter, squat·test) short and thickset; disproportionately broad or wide: he was muscular and squat a squat gray house.• n. 1. [in sing.] a position in which one's knees are bent and one's heels are close to or touching one's buttocks or the back of one's thighs. ∎  Weightlifting an exercise in which a person squats down and rises again while holding a barbell at shoulder level. ∎  (in gymnastics) an exercise involving a squatting movement or action.2. inf. short for diddly-squat: I didn't know squat about writing plays.3. chiefly Brit. a building occupied by people living in it without the legal right to do so. ∎  an unlawful occupation of an uninhabited building.DERIVATIVES: squat·ly adv.squat·ness n.

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