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Litter
Definitions
- 1 comparative form of lit: more lit comparative, form-of
- 1 Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals. uncountable
"Quen he had made me hale and fere"
- 2 material used to provide a bed for animals wordnet
- 3 Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.; A bed, especially a pile of straw (sometimes also with blankets) used as a bed. countable, obsolete
"Near-synonyms: pallet, straw bed, hay bed (all broadly synonymous)"
- 4 conveyance consisting of a chair or bed carried on two poles by bearers wordnet
- 5 Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.; Animal bedding together with its dung. uncountable
"Silkworms... must be well cleansed from the litter."
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- 6 the offspring at one birth of a multiparous mammal wordnet
- 7 A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs. countable
"... In a lytter made tho full royall..."
- 8 rubbish carelessly dropped or left about (especially in public places) wordnet
- 9 A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.; Synonym of stretcher, such a vehicle used for transporting the sick and injured, inclusive of designs carried in the hand. countable
"He ordeyned lyttyers for the wounded knyghtes."
- 10 A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.; Any of the other similar conveyances, such as sedan chairs, hammock litters, and the like. broadly, countable
"When they went out, they sat in litters, which were curtained."
- 11 Synonym of straw, grass, etc. more generally, particularly in plaster, thatch, and mulch. obsolete, uncountable
- 12 An act of giving birth to a number of live young at the same time. countable, obsolete
"Let new planted Elms be kept moist by frequent refreſhings upon ſome half-rotten Fern, or Litter laid about the foot of the ſtem..."
- 13 The whole group of live young born at the same time, typically in reference to mammals or (figurative, derogatory) unpleasant people or objects. collective, countable
"A Wolf came to a Sow, and very Kindly Offer'd to take care of her Litter."
- 14 Waste or debris, originally any mess but now particularly trash left or thrown on the ground. uncountable
"Near-synonyms: garbage; see also Thesaurus:trash"
- 15 A bed, a substrate formed from loose materials. countable, uncommon
"Having first made a litter of shingles, planks or billets, with a layer of charcoal powder several inches in thickness..."
- 16 The layer of fallen leaves and other loose organic material on the ground in a forest. uncountable
"Litter, that portion of the forest floor which is not in an advanced state of decomposition."
- 17 Fuller's earth, clay pellets, wood chips, or other similar loose absorbent materials used for the waste of pet animals. uncountable
"Change the cat litter fer chrissakes. This place reeks."
- 1 To drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it (as discarding in public areas rather than trash receptacles). intransitive
"By tossing the bottle out the window, he was littering."
- 2 give birth to a litter of animals wordnet
- 3 To scatter carelessly about. transitive
- 4 make a place messy by strewing garbage around wordnet
- 5 To strew (a place) with scattered articles. transitive
"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; [...]"
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- 6 strew wordnet
- 7 To give birth to, in the manner of animals. transitive
"We might conceive that dogs were created blind, because we observe they were littered so with us."
- 8 To produce a litter of young. intransitive
"A desert […] where the she-wolf still littered."
- 9 To supply (cattle etc.) with litter; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall. transitive
"Tell them how they litter their jades."
- 10 To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter. intransitive
"The inn where he and his horse litter'd."
Etymology
From Middle English litere, lytere, etc., from Anglo-Norman litere, litiere, etc., from Old French litiere (“bedding; bed of loose straw; litter”), from Late Latin lectuāria (“bedding; blankets”), from Latin lectus (“bed; couch”) + -āria (“forming related nouns”), from Proto-Italic *lektos (“[thing] lain upon”), from *leɣō (“to lie down”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. Cognate with French lit and litière.
From Middle English litere, lytere, etc., from Anglo-Norman litere, litiere, etc., from Old French litiere (“bedding; bed of loose straw; litter”), from Late Latin lectuāria (“bedding; blankets”), from Latin lectus (“bed; couch”) + -āria (“forming related nouns”), from Proto-Italic *lektos (“[thing] lain upon”), from *leɣō (“to lie down”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. Cognate with French lit and litière.
From Middle English litere, lytere, etc., from Anglo-Norman litere, litiere, etc., from Old French litiere (“bedding; bed of loose straw; litter”), from Late Latin lectuāria (“bedding; blankets”), from Latin lectus (“bed; couch”) + -āria (“forming related nouns”), from Proto-Italic *lektos (“[thing] lain upon”), from *leɣō (“to lie down”), from Proto-Indo-European *legʰ-. Cognate with French lit and litière.
See also for "litter"
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