squatter
squatter Lexical Profile
squatter Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who unlawfully occupies an uninhabited building or unused land without legal title, right, or payment of rent.
"The municipal council took legal action to evict the squatter from the abandoned warehouse."
Australian Historically, a pioneer who occupied large tracts of Crown land to graze livestock without initial legal title, later denoting a wealthy pastoralist or sheep grazier of high social standing.
"By the late nineteenth century, the prosperous squatter owned tens of thousands of sheep across the New South Wales plains."
American Historically, a frontier settler who occupied and improved public land prior to formal survey in order to acquire preemption rights.
"Under the Preemption Act of 1841, a frontier squatter could purchase up to 160 acres of surveyed public land before it went to auction."
A person or animal that crouches low to the ground with knees bent.
"After hours of weeding the garden beds, the tired squatter stood up to stretch his cramped legs."
• adjective
More squat; shorter, wider, or more disproportionately thickset in build or shape.
"The ceramic artist chose a squatter vase design so it would not tip over on the narrow shelf."
Word Nuance & Usage
In Australian English, 'squatter' historically shifted from meaning an unauthorized pastoral settler on Crown land to denoting a wealthy, established pastoralist of high social standing.
• Rhymes for squatter
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed in English from the verb 'squat' (from Old French 'esquater', meaning to flatten or crouch) combined with the agentive suffix '-er' for the noun, or the comparative suffix '-er' for the adjective.