SQUATTER

squatter. Squatter, n. one who settles upon land without a title, [(local)]

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Squat″ter (–tẽr), n. 1. 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.
In such a tract, squatters and trespassers were tolerated to an extent now unknown. Macaulay. 2. 2. (Zoöl.) 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. Bartlett.