litter

[lit-er]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR litter ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

objects strewn or scattered about; scattered rubbish.

a condition of disorder or untidiness: We were appalled at the litter of the room.

a number of young brought forth by a multiparous animal at one birth: a litter of six kittens.

a framework of cloth stretched between two parallel bars, for the transportation of a sick or wounded person; stretcher.

a vehicle carried by people or animals, consisting of a bed or couch, often covered and curtained, suspended between shafts.

straw, hay, or the like, used as bedding for animals or as protection for plants.

the layer of slightly decomposed organic material on the surface of the floor of the forest.

cat litter.

verb (used with object)

to strew (a place) with scattered objects, rubbish, etc.: to be fined for littering the sidewalk.

to scatter (objects) in disorder: They littered their toys from one end of the playroom to the other.

to be strewn about (a place) in disorder (often followed by up): Bits of paper littered the floor.

to give birth to (young), as a multiparous animal.

to supply (an animal) with litter for a bed.

to use (straw, hay, etc.) for litter.

to cover (a floor or other area) with straw, hay, etc., for litter.

verb (used without object)

to give birth to a litter: The cat had littered in the closet.

to strew objects about: If you litter, you may be fined.

Idioms

pick of the litter,

the best or choicest of the animals, especially puppies, in a litter.
the best of any class, group, or available selection.

Origin of litter

1250–1300; Middle English litere bed, litter < Anglo-French; Old French litiere < Medieval Latin lectāria, equivalent to Latin lect(us) bed + -āria feminine of -ārius -er²

Related formslit·ter·er, nounan·ti·lit·ter, adjectivean·ti·lit·ter·ing, adjectivede-lit·ter, verb (used with object)un·lit·tered, adjective

Can be confusedletter lighter liter litter

Synonyms for litter

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR litter ON THESAURUS.COM

2. clutter. 9. mess (up). 10. disarrange, derange.

Synonym study

3. See brood.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for litter

Contemporary Examples of litter

We coo over how cute our cat is and minimize the drudgery of cleaning the litter box.
Why Didn’t Camille Dump Bill Cosby?
Amanda Marcotte
December 17, 2014
According to Swiss press reports, younger cats in the litter are the most tender and, as such, are the preferred cat cuts.
Will the Swiss Quit Cooking their Kittens and Puppies?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
November 30, 2014
You'd think that when you get the pick of the litter, the litter would be great.
Clooney: A Constant Charmer at the Altar
Tim Teeman
September 28, 2014
Remember when Chandler was sexually attracted to sharks and Phoebe raised a litter of baby rats?
15 Times ‘Friends’ Was Really, Really Weird
Kevin Fallon
September 18, 2014
Bucking and running into the forest, the deer collapsed dead in a litter of leaves.
Inside The Growing Organic Halal Movement
Sharon Adarlo
September 7, 2014

Historical Examples of litter

The horses were without stalls or litter, in a dark, ill-paved barn.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
There was such a litter as always gathers around a literary man.
Biographical Sketches
Nathaniel Hawthorne
I flushed to see her regard the litter about me with calm deliberateness.
The Bacillus of Beauty
Harriet Stark
The hallways were strewn with straw and the litter of packing.
In the Valley
Harold Frederic
The boys took turns with Trapper Jim in carrying the litter.
With Trapper Jim in the North Woods
Lawrence J. Leslie

British Dictionary definitions for litter

litter

noun

small refuse or waste materials carelessly dropped, esp in public places
(as modifier)litter bin

a disordered or untidy condition or a collection of objects in this condition

a group of offspring produced at one birth by a mammal such as a sow

a layer of partly decomposed leaves, twigs, etc, on the ground in a wood or forest

straw, hay, or similar material used as bedding, protection, etc, by animals or plants

See cat litter

a means of conveying people, esp sick or wounded people, consisting of a light bed or seat held between parallel sticks

verb

to make (a place) untidy by strewing (refuse)

to scatter (objects, etc) about or (of objects) to lie around or upon (anything) in an untidy fashion

(of pigs, cats, etc) to give birth to (offspring)

(tr) to provide (an animal or plant) with straw or hay for bedding, protection, etc

Word Origin for litter

C13 (in the sense: bed): via Anglo-French, ultimately from Latin lectus bed

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 litter

c.1300, "a bed," also "bed-like vehicle carried on men's shoulders" (early 14c.), from Anglo-French litere "portable bed," Old French litiere "litter, stretcher, bier; straw, bedding," from Medieval Latin lectaria "litter" (altered in French by influence of lit "bed"), from Latin lectus "bed, couch," from PIE *legh-to-, from root *legh- "to lie" (see lie (v.2)).

Meaning extended early 15c. to "straw used for bedding" (early 14c. in Anglo-French) and late 15c. to "offspring of an animal at one birth" (in one bed); sense of "scattered oddments, disorderly debris" is first attested 1730, probably from Middle English verb literen "provide with bedding" (late 14c.), with notion of strewing straw. Litter by 19c. had come to mean both the straw bedding and the animal waste in it after use.

late 14c., "provide with bedding," from litter (n.). Meaning "to strew with objects" is from 1713. Transitive sense of "to scatter in a disorderly way" is from 1731. Related: Littered; littering.

Medicine definitions for litter

litter

[lĭt′ər]

n.

A flat supporting framework, such as a piece of canvas stretched between parallel shafts, for carrying a disabled or dead person; a stretcher.

The offspring produced at one birth by a multiparous mammal.brood

litter

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

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Idioms

Origin of litter

Synonyms for litter

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for litter

Contemporary Examples of litter

Historical Examples of litter

litter

noun

verb

Word Origin for litter

litter

n.