litter
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litter
- /ˈlɪt.ɚ/ US
- [ˈlɪɾ.ɚ]
Sounds like lidder
Where it comes from
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-der.
Latin lectus
Proto-Indo-European *-yósder.
Proto-Italic *-āzios
Latin -āriusnom.
Latin -ārius
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂
Proto-Italic *-ā
Latin -a
Latin -āria
Late Latin lectuāria
Old French litiere
Anglo-Norman literebor.
Middle English litere
English litter
Inherited from Middle English litere, borrowed from Anglo-Norman litere, from Old French litiere (“bedding; bed of loose straw; litter”), from Late Latin lectuāria, from Latin lectus + -āria.
noun litters · liter · litere · lytter · lyttre · littor
- Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals. Quen he had made me hale and fere
- A bed, especially a pile of straw (sometimes also with blankets) used as a bed. Near-synonyms: pallet, straw bed, hay bed (all broadly synonymous)
- Animal bedding together with its dung. Silkworms... must be well cleansed from the litter.
- A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs. ... In a lytter made tho full royall...
- Synonym of stretcher, such a vehicle used for transporting the sick and injured, inclusive of designs carried in the hand. He ordeyned lyttyers for the wounded knyghtes.
- Any of the other similar conveyances, such as sedan chairs, hammock litters, and the like. When they went out, they sat in litters, which were curtained.
- Synonym of straw, grass, etc. more generally, particularly in plaster, thatch, and mulch.
- An act of giving birth to a number of live young at the same time. Let new planted Elms be kept moist by frequent refreſhings upon ſome half-rotten Fern, or Litter laid about the foot of the ſtem...
- The whole group of live young born at the same time, typically in reference to mammals or (figurative, derogatory) unpleasant people or objects. A Wolf came to a Sow, and very Kindly Offer'd to take care of her Litter.
- Waste or debris, originally any mess but now particularly trash left or thrown on the ground. Near-synonyms: garbage; see also Thesaurus:trash
- A bed, a substrate formed from loose materials. Having first made a litter of shingles, planks or billets, with a layer of charcoal powder several inches in thickness...
- The layer of fallen leaves and other loose organic material on the ground in a forest. Litter, that portion of the forest floor which is not in an advanced state of decomposition.
- Fuller's earth, clay pellets, wood chips, or other similar loose absorbent materials used for the waste of pet animals. Change the cat litter fer chrissakes. This place reeks.
verb litters · littering · littered · liter · litere
- 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.
- To scatter carelessly about.
- To strew (a place) with scattered articles. 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; […]
- To give birth to, in the manner of animals. We might conceive that dogs were created blind, because we observe they were littered so with us.
- To produce a litter of young. A desert […] where the she-wolf still littered.
- To supply (cattle etc.) with litter; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall. Tell them how they litter their jades.
- To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter. The inn where he and his horse litter'd.
adjective liter · litere · lytter · lyttre · littor · littour
- comparative form of lit: more lit
