Definitions for litter
ˈlɪt ərlit·ter

Princeton's WordNet(5.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. litter(noun)

   the offspring at one birth of a multiparous mammal

2. litter(noun)

   rubbish carelessly dropped or left about (especially in public places)

3. litter(noun)

   conveyance consisting of a chair or bed carried on two poles by bearers

4. bedding material, bedding, litter(verb)

   material used to provide a bed for animals

5. litter(verb)

   strew

   "Cigar butts littered the ground"

6. litter(verb)

   make a place messy by strewing garbage around

7. litter(verb)

   give birth to a litter of animals

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. litter(Noun)

   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.

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

2. litter(Noun)

   The offspring of a mammal born in one birth.

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

3. litter(Noun)

   Material used as bedding for animals.

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

4. litter(Noun)

   Collectively, items discarded on the ground.

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

5. litter(Noun)

   Absorbent material used in an animal's litter tray

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

6. litter(Noun)

   Layer of fallen leaves and similar organic matter in a forest floor.

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

7. litter(Verb)

   To drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it (as discarding in public areas rather than trash receptacles).

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

8. litter(Verb)

   To give birth to, used of animals.

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

9. litter(Verb)

   To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter.

   Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

10. litter(Verb)

    To produce a litter of young.

    Etymology: From litière, from lit, ‘bed’, from lectus; confer Greek λέκτρον. Had the sense ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, ...

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Litter(noun)

   a bed or stretcher so arranged that a person, esp. a sick or wounded person, may be easily carried in or upon it

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

2. Litter(noun)

   straw, hay, etc., scattered on a floor, as bedding for animals to rest on; also, a covering of straw for plants

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

3. Litter(noun)

   things lying scattered about in a manner indicating slovenliness; scattered rubbish

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

4. Litter(noun)

   disorder or untidiness resulting from scattered rubbish, or from thongs lying about uncared for; as, a room in a state of litter

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

5. Litter(noun)

   the young brought forth at one time, by a sow or other multiparous animal, taken collectively. Also Fig

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

6. Litter(verb)

   to supply with litter, as cattle; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

7. Litter(verb)

   to put into a confused or disordered condition; to strew with scattered articles; as, to litter a room

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

8. Litter(verb)

   to give birth to; to bear; -- said of brutes, esp. those which produce more than one at a birth, and also of human beings, in abhorrence or contempt

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

9. Litter(verb)

   to be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter

   Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

10. Litter(verb)

    to produce a litter

    Etymology: [F. litire, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.]

Freebase(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Litter

   Litter consists of waste products that have been disposed improperly, without consent, in an inappropriate location. Litter can also be used as a verb. To litter means to throw objects onto the ground and leave them as opposed to disposing of them properly. Larger hazardous items such as tires, appliances, electronics and large industrial containers are often dumped in isolated locations, such as National Forests and other public land. It is a human impact on the environment and is a serious environmental issue in many countries. Litter can exist in the environment for long periods of time before degrading and be transported large distances into the world's oceans. Litter can affect quality of life. Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world, with 4.5 trillion discarded annually. Cigarette butts can take up to five years to completely break down. Statistics in 2003 showed metal/aluminum drink cans as the least littered item.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Litter

   lit′ėr, n. a heap of straw, &c., for animals to lie upon: materials for a bed: any scattered collection of objects, esp. of little value: a vehicle containing a bed for carrying about, a hospital stretcher: a brood of small quadrupeds.—v.t. to cover or supply with litter: to scatter carelessly about: to give birth to (said of small animals).—v.i. to produce a litter or brood.—p.adj. Litt′ered. [O. Fr. litiere—Low L. lectaria—L. lectus, a bed.]

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. litter

   A basket or frame utilized for the transport of injured persons.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. litter

   A sort of hurdle bed, on which to carry wounded men from the field to the boats.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. litter

   (Lat. lectica, from lectus, “bed”). According to Rees’s Cyclopædia, a kind of vehicle borne upon shafts, anciently esteemed the most easy and genteel way of carriage. It was much in use among the Romans, among whom it was borne by slaves kept for that purpose, as it still continues to be in the East, where it is called a palanquin. The invention of litters, according to Cicero, was owing to the kings of Bithynia. In the time of Tiberius they had become very frequent at Rome, as appears from Seneca. Horse-litters were much used in Europe prior to the introduction of coaches. In the military service the litter is a species of hurdle bed, on which the wounded are sometimes carried from the field of battle. What is known as the hand-litter or stretcher is used to carry men from where they fall in battle to field hospitals. The hand-litter or stretcher is generally constructed with canvas about 61⁄2 feet long by 3 feet wide, the sides securely fastened to two hard-wood poles about 8 feet in length; the two cross-pieces should be constructed so that the litter can be rolled up. Small outlying bodies of troops, especially detachments of cavalry, are not always provided with them; for these the hand-litter, made with guns and blankets, has been extemporized; for this purpose the edges of the blanket are rolled over the guns, and tied firmly with twine, and two stout sticks are also tied across at the head and foot, serving as handles for the bearers. This being laid on the ground, the wounded man is placed upon it, with his knapsack under his head. The Indian litter is made by taking two stout saplings, and attaching to them three cross-pieces, about 21⁄2 or 3 feet apart, by cords and notches; the sick or wounded man being placed on his blanket, this frame-work is placed over him, and the blanket knotted to it. By three bent twigs and an additional blanket, a kind of top can be made to this in case of a storm. Several kinds of horse or mule litters for frontier service have been invented, but none seem so well adapted for all purposes as the one invented by Surgeon J. C. Baily, U.S.A. Ambulance litters are so constructed as to be drawn from the ambulance and taken to the wounded man, who is by it conveyed to the vehicle. It is then slid into place on rollers, and steadied by loops and guys.

Anagrams for litter »

1. tilter

How to pronounce litter?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say litter in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of litter in Chaldean Numerology is: 1

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of litter in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of litter in a Sentence

1. Meredith Montgomery:

   If you have two cats, you have three litter boxes spaced throughout the house, if you have three cats, add another.

2. Kriangsak Thanompan:

   The place we found the deer is a protected forest but it is close to human communities as well as roads where passersby sometimes litter.

3. Sandy Shelby:

   There was no air conditioning. There was no water in any of the water buckets. The litter boxes had zero litter. It was just feces that was in them. Police and animal control officials initially received a call from neighbors complaining about the smell coming from the home. When they first arrived, authorities told FOX4 they found a van in the driveway filled with dogs. When officials arrived they said they found a van filled with dogs. ( FOX4 News) The van was not running. The windows were rolled up and just cracked a tiny little bit, there were 14 crates full of animals inside. Sandy Shelby said authorities are investigating whether the homeowner got the animals from various shelters with the intention of rescuing them. I think that people start out with good intentions, I really do.

4. Ashley Van Stone:

   We know that banning one material is not going to stop and eradicate all litter. But by banning foam we can work to ensure that the material is reduced from entering our environment.

5. Tucker Morrison:

   To the best of my knowledge it’s been squatters living there on and off for about a year and a half, but recently over the last month it’s been guys wheeling out a lot of kitty litter and a lot of weird smells coming from the house, we’re suspecting its meth.

Images & Illustrations of litter

Popularity rank by frequency of use