litter
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See also: Litter
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From French litière, from lit (“bed”), from Latin lectus; confer Ancient Greek λέκτρον (léktron). Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, etc.
Pronunciation[edit]
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈlɪtə(ɹ)/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈlɪtɚ/, [ˈlɪɾɚ]
- Rhymes: -ɪtə(r)
- Homophone: lidder (US)
Audio (US) (file)
Noun[edit]
litter (countable and uncountable, plural litters)
- (countable) A platform mounted on two shafts, or a more elaborate construction, designed to be carried by two (or more) people to transport one (in luxury models sometimes more) third person(s) or (occasionally in the elaborate version) a cargo, such as a religious idol.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene vi]:
- There is a litter ready; lay him in 't.
- 1922, Dhalla, Maneckji Nusservanji, Zoroastrian Civilization[1], page 219:
- When they went out, they sat in litters, which were curtained.
- (collective, countable) The offspring of a mammal born in one birth.
- 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], OCLC 228727523:
- A Wolf came to a Sow, and very Kindly Offer'd to take care of her Litter.
- (uncountable) Material used as bedding for animals.
- sleep in the litter
- (uncountable) Collectively, items discarded on the ground.
- Don't drop litter
- Put litter in the bin
- 1730, Jonathan Swift, s:The Lady's Dressing Room
- Strephon [...] / Stole in, and took a strict survey / Of all the litter as it lay.
- 1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, page 254:
- The British people seem incapable of avoiding the habit of leaving litter wherever they go, and the railways certainly seem to receive their fair share of it, in carriages and on stations.
- (uncountable) Absorbent material used in an animal's litter tray
- the cat's litter
- (uncountable) Layer of fallen leaves and similar organic matter in a forest floor.
- A covering of straw for plants.
- 1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesties Dominions. […], London: […] Jo[hn] Martyn, and Ja[mes] Allestry, printers to the Royal Society, […], OCLC 926218248, chapter IV (Of the Elm), page 19:
- Let new planted Elms be kept moist by frequent refreſhings upon ſome half-rotten Fern, or Litter laid about the foot of the ſtem; [...]
Synonyms[edit]
- (platform designed to carry a person or a load): palanquin, sedan chair, stretcher, cacolet
- (items discarded on the ground): waste, rubbish, garbage (US), trash (US), junk
Derived terms[edit]
Derived terms
Translations[edit]
platform designed to carry a person or a load
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animals born in one birth
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bedding for animals
discarded items
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material for litter tray
layer of dead leaves and other organic matter
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Verb[edit]
litter (third-person singular simple present litters, present participle littering, simple past and past participle littered)
- (intransitive) To drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it (as discarding in public areas rather than trash receptacles).
- By tossing the bottle out the window, he was littering.
- (transitive) To scatter carelessly about.
- (transitive) To strew (a place) with scattered articles.
- 1726, [Jonathan Swift], Cadenus and Vanessa. A Poem, London: […] J. Roberts […], OCLC 1170143441, page 18:
- Their Clamour, 'lighting from their Chairs, / Grew lowder, all the way up Stairs; / At Entrance louder, where they found, / The Room with Volumes litter'd round; [...]
- (transitive) To give birth to, used of animals.
- 1650, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A. Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], OCLC 152706203:
- We might conceive that dogs were created blind, because we observe they were littered so with us.
- 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii]:
- The son that she did litter here, / A freckled whelp hagborn.
- (intransitive) To produce a litter of young.
- 1849–1861, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter 12, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume (please specify |volume=I to V), London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, OCLC 1069526323:
- A desert […] where the she-wolf still littered.
- (transitive) To supply (cattle etc.) with litter; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall.
- 1693, John Hacket, Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams
- Tell them how they litter their jades.
- 1700, [John] Dryden, Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 228732415:
- For his ease, well litter'd was the floor.
- 1693, John Hacket, Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams
- (intransitive) To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter.
- 1634, William Habington, Castara
- The inn where he and his horse litter'd.
- 1634, William Habington, Castara
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it
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give birth
Anagrams[edit]
Norman[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French luitier, loitier, luiter (compare French lutter), from Vulgar Latin luctāre, from Latin luctor, luctārī (“struggle, wrestle, fight”).
Verb[edit]
litter
Derived terms[edit]
- litteux (“wrestler”)
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *legʰ-
- English terms derived from French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with homophones
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English collective nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English verbs
- English intransitive verbs
- English transitive verbs
- Norman terms inherited from Old French
- Norman terms derived from Old French
- Norman terms inherited from Vulgar Latin
- Norman terms derived from Vulgar Latin
- Norman terms inherited from Latin
- Norman terms derived from Latin
- Norman lemmas
- Norman verbs
- Jersey Norman
- nrf:Sports