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

Related Words for littered

clutter, strew, scatter, disarray, confuse, dirty, derange, jumble, disorder, disarrange

Examples from the Web for littered

Contemporary Examples of littered

The comedian was right to call out Bill Cosby, but his material is littered with jokes about rape.
Bill Cosby Foe Hannibal Buress Joked About Date Rape
Rich Goldstein
November 20, 2014
The British aristocracy is littered with stories of unmitigated spendthrifts who seem bent on self-destruction.
The Secrets of Britain’s Wildest Aristocrats
Tom Sykes
October 20, 2014
Boxes of Swisher Sweets, the same cigars Brown is accused of stealing, littered the floor.
Looting, Clashes Shatter Uneasy Calm
Justin Glawe
August 16, 2014
Here, littered in lonely fields and now bagged and loaded onto trains, is the bloody reality.
To Truly Shame Putin, Show Us the Bodies of MH17
Tim Teeman
July 22, 2014
The streets are littered with rocks and glass shards of street fighting.
The Seeds of the Next Intifada
Jesse Rosenfeld
July 7, 2014

Historical Examples of littered

His own life was as littered with hard deeds as the side of a mountain with boulders.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
Their quarters were very clean, and littered with fresh straw.
In the Heart of Vosges
Matilda Betham-Edwards
But how come these steel links and splinters of wood to be littered over the floor?'
Micah Clarke
Arthur Conan Doyle
The table in front of them was littered with papers covered with rows of figures.
Tom Swift and his Electric Runabout
Victor Appleton
Her room was littered, the drawers were filled to overflowing.
Doctor Pascal
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for littered

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 littered

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.

litter

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.

littered in Medicine

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