litter

English

Etymology

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)’, ...

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪtə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪtɚ/, [ˈlɪɾɚ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtə(r)

Noun

litter (countable and uncountable, plural litters)

1. (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.
   • Shakespeare

     There is a litter ready; lay him in 't.

2. (collective, countable) The offspring of a mammal born in one birth.
   • D. Estrange

     A wolf came to a sow, and very kindly offered to take care of her litter.

3. (uncountable) Material used as bedding for animals.
4. (uncountable) Collectively, items discarded on the ground.
   • Jonathan Swift

     Strephon […] / Stole in, and took a strict survey / Of all the litter as it lay.

5. (uncountable) Absorbent material used in an animal's litter tray
6. (uncountable) Layer of fallen leaves and similar organic matter in a forest floor.
7. A covering of straw for plants.
   • Evelyn

     Take off the litter from your kernel beds.

Synonyms

• (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

Derived terms

• cat litter
• litter bin

• litter bug, litterbug
• litter frog

Translations

platform designed to carry a person or a load

• Bulgarian: носи́лка f (nosílka)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 轿 (zh), 担架 (zh)

• Czech: nosítka n pl
• Dutch: draagbed n, draagstoel (nl) m, draagbaar (nl) m
• Finnish: kantotuoli (fi)
• French: litière (fr) f
• German: Sänfte (de) f, Trage (de) f, Bahre (de) f
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: φορεῖον n (phoreîon)

• Hebrew: מטה‎‎ (he) f (mitá)
• Ido: kamilo (io)
• Italian: lettiga, portantina f, palanchino (it) m

• Latin: lectica
• Maori: kauamo, whataamo, kauhoa
• Polish: lektyka (pl) f
• Portuguese: maca (pt) f
• Quechua: wantu
• Romanian: lectică (ro) f, litieră (ro) f
• Russian: паланки́н (ru) m (palankín), носи́лки (ru) f pl (nosílki)
• Serbo-Croatian: nosiljka (sh) f
• Slovene: nosilnica f
• Spanish: litera (es) f
• Swedish: bår (sv) c, bärstol c

animals born in one birth

• Breton: torad (br) m
• Chamicuro: pujchi
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 窝 (zh) (wō)

• Danish: kuld (da) n
• Dutch: worp (nl) m
• Finnish: poikue (fi), pesue (fi), pentue
• French: portée (fr) f
• German: Wurf (de) m
• Icelandic: samburar m pl, got (is) n, ungar (is) m pl
• Irish: ál (ga) m
• Italian: cucciolata (it) f
• Japanese: 一腹の子 (hito hara no ko)
• Latvian: vaisla f
• Lithuanian: vada (lt) f

• Malay: perinduk, seperinduk
• Maori: punipuni
• Norman: câlée f (Jersey), nichie f (Jersey), portée f (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kull (no) n

  Nynorsk: kull n

• Polish: miot m
• Portuguese: ninhada (pt) f
• Russian: припло́д (ru) m (priplód), помёт (ru) m (pomjót), вы́водок (ru) m (vývodok)
• Serbo-Croatian: leglo (sh)
• Slovene: leglo n
• Spanish: camada (es) f
• Swedish: kull (sv) c
• Welsh: sarn f

bedding for animals

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: strooisel (nl) n
• Finnish: kuivike (fi)
• French: litière (fr) f
• Galician: estrume (gl) f, valume f, louza f, mulime f
• German: Streu (de) f, Stroh (de) n

• Hungarian: alom (hu)
• Italian: lettiera f
• Polish: ściółka (pl) f
• Russian: подсти́лка (ru) f (podstílka)
• Spanish: cama (es) f
• Swedish: strö (sv) n

discarded items

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 垃圾 (zh)

• Dutch: afval (nl) n, zwerfafval (nl) n, vuil (nl) n, zwerfvuil (nl) n, vuilnis (nl) n
• Finnish: roska (fi), roina (fi)
• French: détritus (fr) m
• Galician: estrumeira f, lixo m
• German: Abfall (de) m, Unrat (de) m, Müll (de) m, Abfälle (de) pl
• Icelandic: rusl (is) n, drasl n
• Italian: rifiuti (it) m pl, immondizia (it) f, spazzatura (it) f

• Japanese: ごみ (ja) (gomi)
• Lithuanian: šiukšlės (lt) f pl, (sometimes) pabiros f pl
• Maori: parahanga
• Polish: śmieci m pl
• Portuguese: lixo (pt) m
• Russian: сор (ru) m (sor), му́сор (ru) m (músor)
• Spanish: detritus (es)
• Swedish: skräp (sv) n, avfall (sv) n, sopor (sv) pl

material for litter tray

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Finnish: kuivike (fi)
• French: litière (fr) f
• Galician: estrume (gl) m
• German: Streu (de) f, Einstreu f

• Italian: lettiera f
• Polish: ściółka (pl) f, żwirek m
• Russian: подсти́лка (ru) f (podstílka)
• Spanish: letiera
• Swedish: strö (sv) n

layer of dead leaves and other organic matter

• Czech: mrť (cs) f
• Estonian: varis (et)
• Finnish: karike (fi)

• German: Streu (de) f, Bodenstreu f
• Polish: ściółka (pl) f
• Spanish: colchón de hojas m

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.

Translations to be checked

• Norman: ^{(please verify)} fourcée f (Jersey)

Verb

litter (third-person singular simple present litters, present participle littering, simple past and past participle littered)

1. (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.
2. (transitive) To strew with scattered articles.
   • Jonathan Swift

     the room with volumes littered round

3. (transitive) To give birth to, used of animals.
   • Sir Thomas Browne

     We might conceive that dogs were created blind, because we observe they were littered so with us.

   • Shakespeare

     The son that she did litter here, / A freckled whelp hagborn.

4. (intransitive) To produce a litter of young.
   • Macaulay

     A desert […] where the she-wolf still littered.

5. (transitive) To supply (cattle etc.) with litter; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall.
   • Bishop Hacke

     Tell them how they litter their jades.

   • Dryden

     For his ease, well littered was the floor.

6. (intransitive) To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter.
   • Habington

     The inn where he and his horse littered.

Derived terms

• forelittering
• litterer

Translations

drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it

• Arabic: بَعْثَرَ‎‎ (baʿṯara)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 亂丟垃圾, 乱丢垃圾 (luàndiū lājī, (Taiwan) luàndiū lèsè)

• Dutch: sluikstorten (nl)
• Finnish: roskata (fi)
• French: jeter des ordures
• Galician: lixar, ciscar, estrar (gl)

• German: Abfall wegwerfen, vermüllen (de), wegwerfen (de)
• Japanese: ごみを すてる (gomi-o suteru)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forsøple

• Russian: сори́ть (ru) impf (sorítʹ), насори́ть (ru) pf (nasorítʹ), му́сорить (ru) impf (músoritʹ)
• Swedish: skräpa ner (sv)

give birth

• Dutch: werpen (nl)
• Finnish: poikia (fi)
• German: werfen (de), ferkeln (de), abferkeln (de)
• Hungarian: kölykezik

• Mandarin: 产仔 (zh)
• Romanian: făta (ro)
• Spanish: parir (es)

Anagrams

• retilt, tilter, titler

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Norman

Etymology

From Old French luitier, loitier, luiter (compare French lutter), from Vulgar Latin luctāre}, from Latin luctor, luctārī (“struggle, wrestle, fight”).

Verb

litter

1. (Jersey) to wrestle

Derived terms

• litteux (“wrestler”)˩