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squat - What does it mean?

Definition of 'squat'

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) squatten, from (etyl) esquatir, . The sense "nothing" may by a source or a derivation of diddly-squat .

Adjective

(squatter)
  • Relatively short or low and thick or broad
  • * Robert Browning
  • the round, squat turret
  • * Grew
  • The head [of the squill insect] is broad and squat .
  • * 1927 ,
  • 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
  • Sitting on the hams or heels; sitting close to the ground; cowering; crouching.
  • * Milton
  • Him there they found, / Squat like a toad, close at the ear of Eve.

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A position assumed by bending deeply at the knees while resting on one's feet.
  • * 2006 , Yael Calhoun and Matthew R. Calhoun, Create a Yoga Practice for Kids , page 72:
  • Sit in a squat , with your feet a comfortable distance apart.
  • (weightlifting): A specific exercise in weightlifting performed by bending deeply at the knees and then rising, especially with a barbell resting across the shoulders.
  • * 2001 , Robert Wolff, Robert Wolff's Book of Great Workouts , page 58-59:
  • The king of all quad exercises, and arguably the best single-weight resistance exercise, is the squat .
  • A toilet used by squatting as opposed to sitting; a (squat toilet).
  • A building occupied without permission, as practiced by a squatter.
  • * 1996 July 8, Chris Smith, "Live Free or Die", in New York Magazine? , page 36:
  • " 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.
  • (slang) Something of no value; nothing.
  • I know squat about nuclear physics.
  • * 2003 May 6, "Dear Dotti", ? , volume 24, number 34, page 23:
  • We didn't ask for rent, but we assumed they'd help around the house. But they don't do squat .
  • (obsolete) A sudden or crushing fall.
  • (Herbert)
  • (mining) A small vein of ore.
  • A mineral consisting of tin ore and spar.
  • (Halliwell)
    (Woodward)
    Derived terms
    * breathing squat * front squat * hack squat * sissy squat * squat snipe

    Verb

    (squatt)
  • To bend deeply at the knees while resting on one's feet.
  • * 1901 , , chapter II
  • He was not going to squat henlike on his place as the cockies around him did.
  • (weightlifting) To exercise by bending deeply at the knees and then rising, while bearing weight across the shoulders or upper back.
  • * 1994 , Kurt, Mike, & Brett Brungardt, The Complete Book of Butt and Legs , page 161
  • For those who are having, or have had, trouble squatting' we suggest learning how to ' squat by performing the front squatThe front squat allows you almost no alternative but to perform the exercise correctly.
  • To occupy or reside in a place without the permission of the owner.
  • * 1890 , , chapter VII
  • Huddled together in loathsome files, they squat there over night, or until an inquisitive policeman breaks up the congregation with his club, which in Mulberry Street has always free swing.
  • To sit close to the ground; to cower; to stoop, or lie close, to escape observation, as a partridge or rabbit.
  • (dated) To bruise or flatten by a fall; to squash.
  • Derived terms
    * squatter * squatting

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • The angel shark (genus Squatina ).
  • (Webster 1913)

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