squatt

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

In such a tract, squatters and trespassers were tolerated to an extent now unknown. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) See Squat snipe, under Squat. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]