litter
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: lĭt′ər
rhymes: -ɪtə(ɹ)
ipa: /ˈlɪt.əʴ/
note: Canada, US, flapping
ipa: [ˈlɪɾ.ɚ]
homophone: lidder
note: Indic
ipa: /lɪʈ.(ʈ)ɜʳ/
homophone: litre
Forms: form: litters
form: liter
form: litere
form: lytter
form: lyttre
form: littor
form: littour
form: litre
form: licter
form: letter
form: lictier
form: licture
form: litour
form: littier
form: littre
Etymology: From Middle English litere, lytere, &c., from Anglo-Norman litere, litiere, &c., 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.
Senses: examples: text: Quen he had made me hale and fere
ref: a. 1325, Cursor Mundi (Vespasian MS), lines 13817–8
roman: Rise vp he said wit þi litere.
text: As pelows ben to chambres agreable
 So is harde strawe lytter for the stable.
ref: c. 1430, John Lydgate, Horse, Goose, and Sheep:
text: To place daily under those Animals... a sufficient quantity of fresh New Straw, well spread, which is call'd making of Litter.
ref: 1693, Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, translated by John Evelyn, The Compleat Gard'ner..., page 54:
text: John Baldwin held the manor of Oterarsee in Aylesbury of the king in soccage, by the service of finding litter for the king's bed, viz. in summer grass or herbs, and in winter straw.
ref: 1774, Joseph Collyer, The History of England..., volume II, page 126:
text: The afterwards dry the horsedung in the sun, beat it with a mallet through fine sieves, and make it into litter for the horses; for no straw can be obtained for litter in Constantinople.
ref: 1862, Albert Henry Wratislaw, Adventures of Baron Wenceslas Wratislaw of Mitrowitz..., Book II, p. 59:
glosses: Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.
examples: text: The traitours sought the Kyng... yn the withdrawyng chaumburs, yn the litters, undir the presses.
ref: 1440, John Shirley, The Full Lamentable Cronycle of the Dethe and False Murdure of James Stewarde..., page 17:
text: Tho laye they doun on a lytier made of strawe, the foxe, hys wyf and hys chyldren wente alle to slepe.
ref: 1481, The Historye of Reynart the Foxe, William Caxton, page 57:
text: They slept upon litters of jungle grasses, and for covering at night Jane Porter had only an old ulster that belonged to Clayton, the same garment that he had worn upon that memorable trip to the Wisconsin woods.
ref: 1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 177:
glosses: A bed, especially a pile of straw with blankets &c. used as a bed.
examples: text: ... In a lytter made tho full royall...
ref: 1410s, John Lydgate, Troy Book, Canto II
roman: To cary hym softe and easyly...
text: Glou. There is a Litter ready, lay him in't,
 And driue toward Douer friend...
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vi]:
glosses: A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.
examples: text: He ordeyned lyttyers for the wounded knyghtes.
ref: c. 1480, Thomas Malory, chapter XIX, in Morte d'Arthur:
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: 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.
synonyms: word: stretcher
word: such a vehicle used for transporting the sick and injured
word: inclusive of designs carried in the hand
examples: text: When they went out, they sat in litters, which were curtained.
ref: 1922, Maneckji Nusservanji Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization, page 219:
text: "The Chengtu revolutionaries were fantastically colourful in the Szechwanese manner—they costumed themselves as heroes of the stage and their energies were chiefly occupied in tying ropes across the main streets so that when Imperial officials rode by in their litters they would have to get down and crawl under, losing face.
ref: 1942 March, “Notes and News: Monument to a Stillborn Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 88:
glosses: A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.
The general category of all such similar vehicles, inclusive of sedan chairs, hammock litters, and the like.
glosses: An act of giving birth to a number of live young at the same time.
examples: text: Let new planted Elms be kept moist by frequent refreſhings upon ſome half-rotten Fern, or Litter laid about the foot of the ſtem...
ref: 1664, J[ohn] E[velyn], “. Chapter IV. Of the Elm.”, in 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, page 19:
glosses: Synonym of straw, grass, &c. more generally, particularly in plaster, thatch, and mulch.
synonyms: word: straw
word: grass
word: &c. more generally
word: particularly in plaster
word: thatch
word: and mulch
examples: text: A Wolf came to a Sow, and very Kindly Offer'd to take care of her Litter.
ref: 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:
text: Strongly-marked differences occasionally appear in the young of the same litter.
ref: 1859, Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species..., p. 10
text: When a man had married into a family where there was a whole litter of women, he might have plenty to put up with if he choose.
ref: 1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, volume I, page 137:
text: The runt of the litter is the smallest or weakest of a group of puppies born together.
glosses: The whole group of live young born at the same time, typically in reference to mammals or (figurative, derogatory) unpleasant people or objects.
examples: text: What are you doing?! There's a litter bin not three feet away.
text: Strephon, who found the room was void
 And Betty otherwise employed,
 Stole in and took a strict survey
 Of all the litter as it lay....
ref: 1730, Jonathan Swift, The Lady's Dressing Room:
text: 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.
ref: 1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, page 254:
text: In the case of a simple problem such as littering, the success or failure of a solution can immediately be assessed once and for all. A successful solution is one that results in no litter being present. Assuming the solution did not involve summarily executing anyone suspected of being about to drop litter, it is unlikely to have significant second-order effects.
ref: 2023, Charles Chao Rong Phua, Policy Strategy and Innovation Primer..., p. 22
glosses: Waste or debris, originally any mess but now particularly trash left or thrown on the ground.
examples: text: Silkworms... must be well cleansed from the litter.
ref: 1835, Andrew Ure, The Philosophy of Manufactures, page 232:
text: The heir of an estate... troubled himself little about decorating his abode, and, if he attempted decoration, seldom produced anything but deformity. The litter of a farmyard gathered under the windows of his bedchamber, and the cabbages and gooseberry bushes grew close to his hall door.
ref: 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, The History of England..., volume I, page 320:
glosses: Animal bedding together with its dung.
examples: text: Having first made a litter of shingles, planks or billets, with a layer of charcoal powder several inches in thickness...
ref: 1848, Friedrich Ludwig Knapp, translated by Edmund Ronalds et al., Chemical Technology, volume I, page 35:
glosses: A bed, a substrate formed from loose materials.
examples: text: Litter, that portion of the forest floor which is not in an advanced state of decomposition.
ref: 1905, "Terms Used in Forestry and Logging", Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Forestry, No. 61, p. 14
text: Forest animals use leaf litter in a variety of ways, including as food, shelter, nesting material, bedding, and camouflage.
glosses: The layer of fallen leaves and other loose organic material on the ground in a forest.
examples: text: Change the cat litter fer chrissakes. This place reeks.
glosses: Fuller's earth, clay pellets, wood chips, or other similar loose absorbent materials used for the waste of pet animals.
Synonyms: sense: wheelless human or animal transport
word: palanquin
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: inexact
translation: inexact
word: lectica
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
word: dooly
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: Indian, inexact
translation: Indian, inexact
word: nalki
sense: waste strewn about
word: trash
Hyponyms: sense: wheelless human or animal transport
word: sedan
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: borne chairs
translation: borne chairs
word: sedan chair
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
word: horse litter
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: animal-borne litters
translation: animal-borne litters
word: mule litter
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
word: palanquin
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
word: palki
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: Indian litters
translation: Indian litters
word: jaun
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: palanquin with open sides
translation: palanquin with open sides
word: meeana
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
word: hammock litter
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: Indian hammock litter
translation: Indian hammock litter
word: mancheel
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: papal sedan chair
translation: papal sedan chair
word: gestatorial chair
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: litter used for Portuguese Catholic processions
translation: litter used for Portuguese Catholic processions
word: andor
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: enclosed Middle Eastern & Indian animal-borne litters or open Persian & Indian human-borne mobile thrones
translation: enclosed Middle Eastern & Indian animal-borne litters or open Persian & Indian human-borne mobile thrones
word: takhtrawan
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: open Indian litter with arched support pole
translation: open Indian litter with arched support pole
word: chowpaul
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: princely Indian litter borne by many men; a groom's litter
translation: princely Indian litter borne by many men; a groom's litter
word: nalki
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: suspended Indian litter or seat
translation: suspended Indian litter or seat
word: dooly
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
word: dandy
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: open suspended Indian sedan chair
translation: open suspended Indian sedan chair
word: andor
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: open elevated Indian sedan chair
translation: open elevated Indian sedan chair
word: tonjon
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: Persian & Indian camel-borne litters
translation: Persian & Indian camel-borne litters
word: kajawah
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: Central Asian, & Indian covered litters
translation: Central Asian, & Indian covered litters
word: mihaffa
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: Malaysian covered litter
translation: Malaysian covered litter
word: jampan
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: animal-borne medical litters
translation: animal-borne medical litters
word: cacolet
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: Roman curtained litter
translation: Roman curtained litter
word: lectica
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: open Japanese sedan chair
translation: open Japanese sedan chair
word: kago
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: enclosed Japanese palanquin
translation: enclosed Japanese palanquin
word: norimono
sense: wheelless human or animal transport
english: ceremonial Japanese litter for Shinto idols
translation: ceremonial Japanese litter for Shinto idols
word: mikoshi
Derived terms: antilitter
belitter
cat litter
clitty litter
freaklitter
hammock litter
horse litter
horse-litter
horselitter
interlitter
killer litter
kitty litter
leaf litter
leaflitter
litterbag
litterbasket
litter bin
litter box
litter bug
litterbug
litterfall
litter frog
litterless
litter lout
littermate
litter moth
litter picking
litter tray
littery
make litter of
microlitter
mule litter
mule-litter
mulelitter
pick of the litter
pocket litter
prelitter
rough-backed litter snake
runt of the litter
southern litter skink