lit|ter

lit|ter «LIHT uhr», noun, verb.

–n.

1. little bits left about in disorder; things scattered about: »

Children should pick up their own litter. The kitchen was covered with the litter of dressmakers preparing for the wedding (Hall Caine).

SYNONYM(S): trash, debris.

2. a state of disorder or untidiness: »

She was ashamed to be seen in such a pickle…her house was in such a litter (Henry Fielding).

3. the young animals produced by an animal at one time: »

a litter of puppies.

4. a) straw or hay used as bedding for animals, or for other purposes, such as the protection of plants. b) the surface layer of decaying leaves and other organic matter on the floor of a forest: »

This is the ladderlike arrangement of litter, understory, and overstory that naturally builds up, with time, in the forest (New Yorker).

5. a stretcher for carrying a sick or wounded person.

6. a framework to be carried on men's shoulders or by beasts of burden, with a couch usually enclosed by curtains: »

I have sent a message…saying that thou wast a little feeble and would need a litter (Rudyard Kipling).

SYNONYM(S): palanquin.

–v.t.

1. to scatter (things) about; leave (odds and ends) lying around: »

He littered the Sunday paper all over the floor.

SYNONYM(S): strew.

2. to make untidy or disordered: »

She littered her room with books and papers.

SYNONYM(S): disarrange.

3. to give birth to (young animals).

4. a) to make a bed for (an animal) with straw or hay. b) to cover with litter: »

The floor of the stable had just been littered with fresh straw.

–v.i.

(of an animal) to bring forth a litter of young.

╂[< Anglo-French litere, Old French litiere, learned borrowing from Medieval Latin lectaria, literia, for Latin lectīca litter; sedan < lectus bed, couch]

–lit´ter|er, noun.