[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/squat/)

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# squat

verb (squat, squats, squatted, squatting); noun (a squat, squats); adjective (squat, squatter, squattest); (slang, US) squat = nothing

«squat» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To squat is to bend your knees and lower your body so you sit on your heels or just above the ground. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#m1)
2. A squat is an exercise where you bend your knees and stand up again, keeping your back straight. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#m2)
3. To squat is to live in an empty building or on land without permission or paying rent; the building is then called a squat. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#m3)
4. Squat (adjective) means short and wide: a squat little teapot. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#m4)
5. (US slang) Squat or «diddly-squat» means nothing at all: «you know squat». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#m5)

### In the lessons

PE and health: squats make leg muscles strong; keep your knees over your toes. Everyday life: squatting down to look at a bug. Law and news: squatting in empty buildings is a crime in some places, like homes in England. Stories: a squat house or a squat toad is short and fat.

### Examples

- We did twenty squats in PE. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#x1)
- She squatted down to look at the snail. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#x2)
- The toad was squat and brown. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#x3)
- People were squatting in the empty building. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#x4)
- Keep your back straight when you squat. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#x5)
- He knows squat about football. (US slang) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#x6)
- The old lighthouse looked squat next to the hotel. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#x7)
- Matting was spread for him to squat on, and the best provisions set before him. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/#x8)

### Note

Spelling: squatted, squatting (double t). A person who squats in a building is a «squatter». The slang sense «squat» = nothing is informal, mostly American.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «squat» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/squat/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«squat» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/squat.html) on Mova free.