clutter
[kluht-er]
- to fill or litter with things in a disorderly manner: All kinds of papers cluttered the top of his desk.
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- British Dialect. to run in disorder; move with bustle and confusion.
- British Dialect. to make a clatter.
- to speak so rapidly and inexactly that distortions of sound and phrasing result.
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- a disorderly heap or assemblage; litter: It's impossible to find anything in all this clutter.
- a state or condition of confusion.
- confused noise; clatter.
- an echo or echoes on a radar screen that do not come from the target and can be caused by such factors as atmospheric conditions, objects other than the target, chaff, and jamming of the radar signal.
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Origin of clutter
Synonyms
See more synonyms for clutter on Thesaurus.com5. mess, disorder, jumble.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for clutter
Contemporary Examples
Magazines are the only thing in my apartment that qualify as clutter.
Using the above apps can cut out the clutter, get you the best deals right away, and streamline your travels.
Picking real targets from false targets and clutter is still down to operators.
The real, true, unguarded details tend to cut through the clutter.
The problem with thinning out this clutter lies in the fact that any American citizen 35 or older can be president.
Historical Examples
They stood knee-deep in the clutter and lumber, facing each other abjectly.
The Gentleman From IndianaBooth Tarkington
He spread a tarpaulin amid the clutter amidships and they sat down.
The Harbor of DoubtFrank Williams
She was stretching her hand out to Drury, where he lay unconscious, deep in the clutter.
In a Little TownRupert Hughes
"It'll be a relief for most folks not to have the muss and the clutter," said Ellen's mother.
ChristmasZona Gale
In the center of the table, surrounded by the clutter, sat an oblong box.
Damned If You Don'tGordon Randall Garrett
clutter
- (usually tr often foll by up) to strew or amass (objects) in a disorderly manner
- (intr) to move about in a bustling manner
- (intr) to chatter or babble
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- a disordered heap or mass of objects
- a state of disorder
- unwanted echoes that confuse the observation of signals on a radar screen
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Word Origin
C15 clotter, from clotteren to clot
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for clutter
v.
1550s, "to collect in heaps," variant of clotern "to form clots, to heap on" (c.1400); related to clot (n.). Sense of "to litter" is first recorded 1660s. Related: Cluttered; cluttering.
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n.
1570s, "things lying in heaps or confusion," from clutter (v.); the "litter" sense is from 1660s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper