squat

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See also: Squat

English

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WOTD – 19 May 2016

Etymology 1

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From Middle English squatten, from Old French esquatir, escatir (“compress, press down, lay flat, crush”), from es- (“ex-”) quatir (“press down, flatten”), from Vulgar Latin *coactire (“press together, force”), from Latin coāctus, perfect passive participle of cōgō (“force together, compress”).

The sense “nothing” may be the source or a derivation of diddly-squat.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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squat (comparative squatter, superlative squattest)

  1. Relatively short or low, and thick or broad.
    • 1681, Nehemiah Grew, “Of Creeping Insects [part I, section VII, chapter III]”, in Musæum Regalis Societatis. Or a Catalogue & Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham College. [...] Whereunto is Subjoyned the Comparative Anatomy of Stomachs and Guts, London: Printed by W. Rawlins, for the Author, →OCLC, page 176:
      The SQUILL-INSECT. […] So called from ſome ſimilitude to the Squill-fiſh: chiefly, in having a long Body cover'd with a Cruſt compoſed of ſeveral Rings or Plates. The Head is broad and ſquat. He hath a pair of notable ſharp Fangs before, both hooked inward like a Bulls horns.
    • 1855, Robert Browning, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came”, in Men and Women, London: Chapman & Hall, →OCLC, stanza XXXI:
      What in the midst lay but the Tower itself? / The round squat turret, blind as the fool's heart, / Built of round stone, without a counterpart / In the whole world. […]
    • 1927 March, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, “The Colour Out of Space”, in Amazing Stories, New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, published September 1927, →ISSN:
      On the gentle slopes there are farms, ancient and rocky, with squat, moss-coated cottages brooding eternally over old New England secrets in the lee of great ledges […]
  2. Sitting on one's heels; sitting close to the ground; cowering or crouching.
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 799–803:
      [H]im there they found, / Squat like a toad, cloſe at the ear of Eve, / Aſſaying by his deviliſh art to reach / The organs of her fancy', and with them forge / Illuſions as he liſt, phantaſms and dreams, […]
Translations
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Noun

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A weightlifter performing a squat
A squat toilet in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

squat (plural squats)

  1. A position assumed by bending deeply at the knees while resting on one's feet.
    • 2006, Yael Calhoun, Matthew R. Calhoun, Create a Yoga Practice for Kids: Fun, Flexibility, and Focus, Santa Fe, N.M.: Sunstone Press, →ISBN, page 72:
      Sit in a squat, with your feet a comfortable distance apart.
  2. (exercise) Any of various modes of callisthenic exercises performed by moving the body and bending at least one knee.
    1. (weightlifting) A specific exercise in weightlifting performed by bending deeply at the knees and then rising (back squat), especially with a barbell resting across the shoulders (barbell back squat).
      • 2001, Robert Wolff, Robert Wolff's Book of Great Workouts: Everything You Need to Know to Vary Your Routine and Keep You Motivated, Lincolnwood and Chicago, Ill.: Contemporary Books, →ISBN, pages 58–59:
        The king of all quad exercises, and arguably the best single-weight resistance exercise, is the squat.
  3. A building occupied without permission, as practiced by a squatter.
    • 1996, “Born To Die”, in Squatta's Paradise, performed by Choking Victim, Whattsa Matta U Rekidz:
      Your dumb self can't appreciate the freedom in my thought / The weak sense of autonomy when I'm flipping in my squat
    • 1996 July 8, Chris Smith, “Live free or die”, in New York, New York, N.Y.: New York Magazine Co., →ISSN, page 36:
      "Keeping your friends warm and dry, that doesn't happen here. If you want to spend a night in a squat, it's all political to get in." Lately, as buildings have filled and become stringent about new admissions, much of the squatters' "My house is your house" rhetoric has become hollow.
  4. A place of concealment in which a hare spends time when inactive, especially during the day; a form.
  5. A toilet used by squatting as opposed to sitting; a squat toilet.
  7. (slang, Canada, US) Clipping of diddly-squat; something of no value.
    Synonyms: nothing; see also Thesaurus:nothing
    I know squat about nuclear physics.
    • 2003 May 6, “Dear Dotti: America's Most Outspoken Advice Columnist”, in Weekly World News, volume 24, number 34, New York, N.Y.: American Media, →ISSN, page 23:
      We didn't ask for rent, but we assumed they'd help around the house. But they don't do squat.
    • 2022 October 19, Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive (webcomic), Comic for Wednesday, Oct 19, 2022:
      "Joke's on you. They're used to me mostly talking about superficial stuff. Nobody's going to notice squat."
  8. (mining) A small vein of ore.
  9. A mineral consisting of tin ore and spar.
    • 1728, J[ohn] Woodward, “Earths and Earthy Substances”, in A Catalogue of the Additional English Native Fossils, in the Collection of J. Woodward M.D., tome II, London: […] F[rancis] Fayram, […]; J[ohn] Senex, […]; and J. Osborn and T[homas] Longman, […], →OCLC, page 23:
      A Mineral, very ponderous, and probably holding Tin. […] 'Twas part of a Squat, at Hewas-Work; not far from Polgouth, in St. Stephen's Liberty, Cornwall.
  10. (obsolete) A sudden or crushing fall.
    • 1652, George Herbert, “Treatise of Temperance and Sobriety”, in Herbert's Remains, Or, Sundry Pieces Of that sweet Singer of the Temple:
      bruises, and squats, and falls, which often kill others
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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A young boy squatting in a park

squat (third-person singular simple present squats, present participle squatting, simple past and past participle squatted)

  1. To bend deeply at the knees while resting on one's feet.
  2. (exercise) To perform one or more callisthenic exercises by moving the body and bending at least one knee.
    1. (weightlifting) To exercise by bending deeply at the knees and then rising, while bearing weight across the shoulders or upper back.
      • 1994, Kurt Brungardt, Mike Brungardt, Brett Brungardt, The Complete Book of Butt and Legs, New York, N.Y.: Villard Books, →ISBN, page 161:
        For those who are having, or have had, trouble squatting we suggest learning how to squat by performing the front squat […] The front squat allows you almost no alternative but to perform the exercise correctly.
  3. To occupy or reside in a place without the permission of the owner.
  4. To sit close to the ground; to stoop, or lie close to the ground, for example to escape observation.
    • 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 76:
      "But there seemed to be little satisfaction got out of this run; every moment the hare squatted, and the hounds lost the scent time after time."
  5. (dated) To bruise or flatten by a fall; to squash.
  6. (Internet) To cybersquat.
    • 2006, Paul Wouters, Ken Bantoft, Building and Integrating Virtual Private Networks with Openswan:
      The old homepage for L2TP, www.l2tpd.org, has been squatted by a domain squatter. A malicious person could reinstate this domain with malicious code on it.
  7. (slang, board games) To retire a modeling kit or group of modeling kits.
    I can't believe they squatted my favorite faction!
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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An 1877 illustration of an angelshark or monkfish (Squatina squatina), the type species for squats or angel sharks

From Latin squatina.

Noun

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squat (plural squats)

  1. The angel shark (genus Squatina).

References

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Anagrams

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French

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French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology

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From English squat.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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squat m (plural squats)

  1. Squat (building occupied without permission, as practiced by a squatter)
    taper un squat
    to squat an apartment; do stupid and useless things
  2. uninvited presence in a building or place (the result of which can be welcomed)
    on va taper un squat chez Jérôme ?
    let's crash at Jérôme's place?
  3. squat effect
    Parmi les inconvénients du squat, la modification de l’écoulement des filets d’eau, perturbé par la proximité du fond, provoque des difficultés de gouverne, des vibrations, et une diminution de la vitesse.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  4. (weightlifting) Squat
    C’est Vlad Alhazov qui détient le record du monde au squat, avec 1250lbs (566,99 kilo).
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
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Further reading

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from English squat.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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squat m inan

  1. squat (building occupied without permission by squatters)

Declension

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Declension of squat
singular plural
nominative squat squaty
genitive squatu squatów
dative squatowi squatom
accusative squat squaty
instrumental squatem squatami
locative squacie squatach
vocative squacie squaty
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noun

Further reading

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  • squat in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈskwat/ [ˈskwat̪], /esˈkwat/ [esˈkwat̪]
  • Rhymes: -at

Noun

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squat m (plural squats)

  1. squat (exercise)
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