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litter

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lit⋅ter

  [lit-er]
Use litter in a Sentence
–noun
1. objects strewn or scattered about; scattered rubbish.
2. a condition of disorder or untidiness: We were appalled at the litter of the room.
3. a number of young brought forth by a multiparous animal at one birth: a litter of six kittens.
4. a framework of cloth stretched between two parallel bars, for the transportation of a sick or wounded person; stretcher.
5. a vehicle carried by people or animals, consisting of a bed or couch, often covered and curtained, suspended between shafts.
6. straw, hay, or the like, used as bedding for animals or as protection for plants.
7. the layer of slightly decomposed organic material on the surface of the floor of the forest.
8. cat litter.
–verb (used with object)
9. to strew (a place) with scattered objects, rubbish, etc.: to be fined for littering the sidewalk.
10. to scatter (objects) in disorder: They littered their toys from one end of the playroom to the other.
11. to be strewn about (a place) in disorder (often fol. by up): Bits of paper littered the floor.
12. to give birth to (young), as a multiparous animal.
13. to supply (an animal) with litter for a bed.
14. to use (straw, hay, etc.) for litter.
15. to cover (a floor or other area) with straw, hay, etc., for litter.
–verb (used without object)
16. to give birth to a litter: The cat had littered in the closet.
17. to strew objects about: If you litter, you may be fined.
—Idiom
18. pick of the litter,
a. the best or choicest of the animals, esp. puppies, in a litter.
b. the best of any class, group, or available selection.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME litere bed, litter < AF; OF litiere < ML lectāria, equiv. to L lect(us) bed + -āria fem. of -ārius -er 2

Related forms:
lit⋅ter⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
2. clutter. 3. See brood. 9. mess (up). 10. disarrange, derange.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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FreshAire with BioFilters
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lit·ter   (lĭt'ər)   
n.  

    1. A disorderly accumulation of objects; a pile.

    2. Carelessly discarded refuse, such as wastepaper: the litter in the streets after a parade.

    3. Material, such as straw, used as bedding for animals.

    4. An absorbent material, such as granulated clay, for covering the floor of an animal's cage or excretory box.

  2. The offspring produced at one birth by a multiparous mammal. See Synonyms at flock1.

    1. Material, such as straw, used as bedding for animals.

    2. An absorbent material, such as granulated clay, for covering the floor of an animal's cage or excretory box.

  4. An enclosed or curtained couch mounted on shafts and used to carry a single passenger.

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

  6. The uppermost layer of the forest floor consisting chiefly of fallen leaves and other decaying organic matter.

v.   lit·tered, lit·ter·ing, lit·ters

v.   tr.

  1. To give birth to (a litter).

  2. To make untidy by discarding rubbish carelessly: Selfish picnickers litter the beach with food wrappers.

  3. To scatter about: littered towels all over the locker room.

  4. To supply (animals) with litter for bedding or floor covering.

v.   intr.

  1. To give birth to a litter.

  2. To scatter litter.


[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman litere, from Medieval Latin lectāria (influenced by Old French lit, bed), from Latin lectus, bed; see legh- in Indo-European roots.]
lit'ter·er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

litter 
c.1300, "a bed," also "bed-like vehicle carried on men's shoulders" (c.1330), from Anglo-Fr. litere "portable bed," from O.Fr. litiere, from M.L. lectaria "litter" (altered in O.Fr. by influence of lit "bed"), from L. lectus "bed, couch." Meaning extended c.1430 to "straw used for bedding" (1314 in Anglo-Fr.) and 1486 to "offspring of an animal at one birth" (in one bed); sense of "scattered oddments, disorderly debris" is first attested 1730, probably from M.E. verb literen "provide with bedding" (1398), with notion of strewing straw. The verb meaning "to strew with objects" is from 1713. Litterbug first recorded 1947. Littering "act of dropping litter" is from 1960.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1lit·ter
Pronunciation: 'lit-&r
Function: noun
1 : a device (as a stretcher) for carrying a sick or injured person
2 : the offspring at one birth of a multiparous animal

Main Entry: 2litter
Function: transitive verb
: to give birth to a litter of (young) litter intransitive senses
: to give birth to alitter
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

litter lit·ter (lĭt'ər)
n.

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

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

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary

Litter

(Heb. tsab, as being lightly and gently borne), a sedan or palanquin for the conveyance of persons of rank (Isa. 66:20). In Num. 7:3, the words "covered wagons" are more literally "carts of the litter kind." There they denote large and commodious vehicles drawn by oxen, and fitted for transporting the furniture of the temple.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Encyclopedia

litter

portable bed or couch, open or enclosed, that is mounted on two poles and carried at each end on the shoulders of porters or by animals. Litters, which may have been adapted from sledges that were pushed or dragged on the ground, appear in Egyptian paintings and were used by the Persians; they are mentioned in the Book of Isaiah. Litters were also common in the Orient, where they were called palanquins. In ancient Rome, litters were reserved for empresses and senators' wives, and plebeians were forbidden to travel in them. By the 17th century, litters were plentiful in Europe; protection and privacy were provided by canopies held up by poles and by curtains or leather shields. The introduction of spring-mounted coaches ended the need for litters except as transport for the sick and wounded.

Learn more about litter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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