Meanings
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1
noun
a person who occupies land or a building without legal title, permission, or a tenancy agreement
The abandoned warehouse was occupied by a squatter seeking shelter.
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2
noun
historical Australia: a settler who occupied Crown grazing land, later especially a wealthy pastoral leaseholder
The nineteenth-century squatter managed an immense sheep station inland.
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3
noun
a person who squats or remains seated low to the ground
The squatter rose slowly after tending the campfire.
Thesaurus
Etymology
An agent noun from squat. The unauthorized-occupant sense developed from settling on land without title. In colonial Australia, squatter became a historical term for pastoral settlers on Crown land and later for powerful leaseholding graziers.