Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Squatter \Squat"ter\, 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 permission
      and restrictions, before acquiring title.

            In such a tract, squatters and trespassers were
            tolerated to an extent now unknown.   --Macaulay.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) See {Squat snipe}, under {Squat}.

   {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.