Squatter

6 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Squatter \Squat"ter\ (-t[~e]r), n.
     1. One who squats; specifically, one who settles unlawfully
        upon land without a title. In the United States and
        Australia the term is sometimes applied also to a person
        who settles lawfully upon government land under legal
        permission and restrictions, before acquiring title.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              In such a tract, squatters and trespassers were
              tolerated to an extent now unknown.   --Macaulay.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Zool.) See {Squat snipe}, under {Squat}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Squatter sovereignty}, the right claimed by the squatters,
        or actual residents, of a Territory of the United States
        to make their own laws. [Local, U.S.] --Bartlett.
        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Squat \Squat\, n.
     1. The posture of one that sits on his heels or hams, or
        close to the ground.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A sudden or crushing fall. [Obs.] --Herbert.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Mining)
        (a) A small vein of ore.
        (b) A mineral consisting of tin ore and spar. --Halliwell.
            --Woodward.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     {Squat snipe} (Zool.), the jacksnipe; -- called also
        {squatter}. [Local, U.S.]
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  squatter
       n 1: someone who settles lawfully on government land with the
            intent to acquire title to it [syn: {homesteader}, {nester}]
       2: someone who settles on land without right or title

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  squat
       adj 1: short and thick; as e.g. having short legs and heavy
              musculature; "some people seem born to be square and
              chunky"; "a dumpy little dumpling of a woman";
              "dachshunds are long lowset dogs with drooping ears";
              "a little church with a squat tower"; "a squatty red
              smokestack"; "a stumpy ungainly figure" [syn: {chunky},
               {dumpy}, {low-set}, {squatty}, {stumpy}]
       2: having a low center of gravity; built low to the ground
          [syn: {underslung}]
       n 1: exercising by repeatedly assuming a squatting position;
            strengthens the leg muscles [syn: {knee bend}, {squatting}]
       2: a small worthless amount; "you don't know jack" [syn: {jack},
           {diddly-squat}, {diddlysquat}, {diddly-shit}, {diddlyshit},
           {diddly}, {diddley}, {shit}]
       3: the act of assuming or maintaining a squatting position
          [syn: {squatting}]
       v 1: sit on one's heels; "In some cultures, the women give birth
            while squatting"; "The children hunkered down to protect
            themselves from the sandstorm" [syn: {crouch}, {scrunch},
             {scrunch up}, {hunker}, {hunker down}]
       2: be close to the earth, or be disproportionately wide; "The
          building squatted low"
       3: occupy (a dwelling) illegally
       [also: {squatting}, {squatted}, {squattest}, {squatter}]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  squatter
       See {squat}

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  43 Moby Thesaurus words for "squatter":
     arriviste, colonial, colonist, colonizer, emigrant, gate-crasher,
     greenhorn, hirer, homesteader, immigrant, incumbent, intruder,
     leaseholder, lessee, lodger, nester, new arrival, new boy,
     newcomer, novus homo, occupant, occupier, parvenu, paying guest,
     pioneer, planter, precursor, recruit, renter, resident, rookie,
     roomer, settler, sooner, stowaway, sublessee, subtenant, tenant,
     tenant at sufferance, tenant for life, tenderfoot, underlessee,
     upstart