litter
[lit-er]
- 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.
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- 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.
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- to give birth to a litter: The cat had littered in the closet.
- to strew objects about: If you litter, you may be fined.
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- 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.
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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
Synonyms
See more synonyms for litter on Thesaurus.com2. 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. 2018
Examples from the Web for littering
Contemporary Examples
Littering the living room floor were old sports pages and letters and newspaper clippings.
No littering,” “no smoking,” “no cooking,” “no camping,” “no dogs,” “no glass containers,” “no alcohol,” “no bonfires.
While they were found guilty for only littering, witness testimony included examples of healthy animals being euthanized.
The always-adaptive Taliban forced Americans to rely more on helicopters by littering Afghan roads with IEDs.
Historical Examples
As the day went on, I often sat with them up to my shoulders, and littering all the patio.
Much Darker DaysAndrew Lang (AKA A. Huge Longway)
The flowers on the box caught at branches and twigs, falling, littering the route.
When the Owl CriesPaul Bartlett
On the other hand, animals sometimes suffer in littering, and even die of it.
InstigationsEzra Pound
He had a grand time, revelling with pen and pad and littering the floor with inked sheets unnumbered and still wet.
When Winter Comes to Main StreetGrant Martin Overton
Writing tools and desk he had already collected; there were plenty of these littering the building in every corner.
"Unto Caesar"Baroness Emmuska Orczy
litter
- 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
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- 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
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Word Origin
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 littering
n.
1540s, of animals, "process of bringing forth young in a single birth," verbal noun from present participle of litter (v.). Meaning "act of furnishing with bedding" is from c.1600. That of "act of dropping litter" is from 1900.
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litter
n.
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.
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litter
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
litter
(lĭt′ər)- 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
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.