squatter

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

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.
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            In such a tract, squatters and trespassers were
            tolerated to an extent now unknown.   --Macaulay.
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   2. (Zool.) See {Squat snipe}, under {Squat}.
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   {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.
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Squat \Squat\, n.
   1. The posture of one that sits on his heels or hams, or
      close to the ground.
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   2. A sudden or crushing fall. [Obs.] --Herbert.
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   3. (Mining)
      (a) A small vein of ore.
      (b) A mineral consisting of tin ore and spar. --Halliwell.
          --Woodward.
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   {Squat snipe} (Zool.), the jacksnipe; -- called also
      {squatter}. [Local, U.S.]
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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