squatter
/ˈskwɒtə(r)/ (bre, ipa) · [skwˈɑtɚ] /ˈskwɑːtər/ (ame, ipa) · [skwˈɑtɚ] /ˈskwä-tər/ (ame, mw)
squatter — noun
- squattersingular
- squattersplural
1. someone who moves into and stays in an empty house, apartment, or piece of land
someone who moves into and stays in an empty house, apartment, or piece of land that does not belong to them, without having the legal right to be there
Police removed a group of squatters from the abandoned warehouse on River Road this morning.
collocation: remove / evict squatters
The old hotel stood empty for years before squatters made it into a shelter.
Selim became a squatter after losing his job and finding no affordable housing nearby.
Local laws in this city make it surprisingly hard for landlords to evict long-term squatters.
Camila joined a group of squatters who wanted to highlight the shortage of affordable homes.
- trespasser
stronger implication of criminal wrongdoing
- illegal occupant
more formal, often used in legal documents
- occupier
neutral term; does not necessarily mean the person is there without permission
用法筆記
Frequently appears in housing-policy and legal contexts. Some squatters occupy buildings as a form of protest or out of housing need rather than criminal intent. The term 'squatter' does not automatically imply a crime — the legal status depends on local property law.
常見錯誤
2. a person in earlier centuries who settled on unowned or unclaimed land, especial
a person in earlier centuries who settled on unowned or unclaimed land, especially in North America or Australia, with the intention of eventually gaining legal ownership of it through occupation
During the 1800s, squatters moved west across the American plains and built farms on land that had not been surveyed.
historical context: 1800s American frontier
Lucas's great-grandfather was a squatter who registered his land claim after fourteen years of farming.
The colonial government granted land titles to squatters who developed farms in remote Australia.
Early squatters in South Africa grazed cattle on vast stretches of land before any legal system recognised their claims.
- homesteader
a settler who legally claimed land through government programmes, especially in the US
- pioneer
broader term for early settlers, not limited to those without legal title
- settler
general term for a person who moves to a new region to live and farm
用法筆記
This sense is primarily historical and refers to a specific practice of frontier settlement, especially in the United States, Australia, and South Africa during the 18th–19th centuries. In some cases these settlers later gained legal title through 'squatter's rights' laws.