litter

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: lit=ter

CIDE DICTIONARY

litter, n. [F. litière, LL. lectaria, fr. L. lectus couch, bed. See Lie to be prostrated, and cf. Coverlet.].

•  A bed or stretcher so arranged that a person, esp. a sick or wounded person, may be easily carried in or upon it.  [1913 Webster]

  "There is a litter ready; lay him in 't."  [1913 Webster]
•  Straw, hay, etc., scattered on a floor, as bedding for animals to rest on; also, a covering of straw for plants.  [1913 Webster]

  "To crouch in litter of your stable planks."  [1913 Webster]

  "Take off the litter from your kernel beds."  [1913 Webster]
•  Things lying scattered about in a manner indicating slovenliness; scattered rubbish.  [1913 Webster]

  "Strephon, who found the room was void.
  Stole in, and took a strict survey
  Of all the litter as it lay."  [1913 Webster]
•  Disorder or untidiness resulting from scattered rubbish, or from thongs lying about uncared for; as, a room in a state of litter.  [1913 Webster]
•  The young brought forth at one time, by a cat, dog, sow or other multiparous animal, taken collectively. Also Fig.  [1913 Webster]

  "A wolf came to a sow, and very kindly offered to take care of her litter."  [1913 Webster]

  "Reflect upon that numerous litter of strange, senseless opinions that crawl about the world."  [1913 Webster]

litter, v. t. 

•  To supply with litter, as cattle; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall.  [1913 Webster]

  "Tell them how they litter their jades."  [1913 Webster]

  "For his ease, well littered was the floor."  [1913 Webster]
•  To put into a confused or disordered condition; to strew with scattered articles; as, to litter a room.  [1913 Webster]

  "The room with volumes littered round."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "We might conceive that dogs were created blind, because we observe they were littered so with us."  [1913 Webster]

  "The son that she did litter here,
  A freckled whelp hagborn."  [1913 Webster]

litter, v. i. 

•  To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter.  [1913 Webster]

  "The inn
  Where he and his horse littered."  [1913 Webster]
•  To produce a litter.  [1913 Webster]

  "A desert . . . where the she-wolf still littered."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

litter, n. & v.
--n.
1 a refuse, esp. paper, discarded in an open or public place. b odds and ends lying about. c (attrib.) for disposing of litter (litter-bin).
2 a state of untidiness, disorderly accumulation of papers etc.
3 the young animals brought forth at a birth.
4 a vehicle containing a couch shut in by curtains and carried on men's shoulders or by beasts of burden.
5 a framework with a couch for transporting the sick and wounded.
6 a straw, rushes, etc., as bedding, esp. for animals. b straw and dung in a farmyard.
--v.tr.
1 make (a place) untidy with litter.
2 scatter untidily and leave lying about.
3 give birth to (whelps etc.).
4 (often foll. by down) a provide (a horse etc.) with litter as bedding. b spread litter or straw on (a floor) or in (a stable).

Idiom

litter-lout = LITTERBUG.

Derivative

littery adj. (in senses 1, 2 of n.).

Etymology

ME f. AF litere, OF litiere f. med.L lectaria f. L lectus bed

THESAURUS

litter

air mattress, arsy-varsiness, be confined, bear, bear a child, bear young, bed, bed down, bedding, bedstead, bier, bolster, brancard, break, bridle, brood, brush, bunk, cacolet, calve, camel litter, cast, clamjamfry, clutch, clutter, collateral, couch, curry, currycomb, cushion, dandy, debris, derange, disarrange, disarray, dishevel, dislocate, disorder, disorganize, dolly, doolie, doss, drench, drop, dust, farrago, farrow, fawn, feed, foal, fodder, fragments, fry, garbage, gentle, get, give birth, gocart, groom, gurney, handbarrow, handle, harness, hash, hatch, have, have a baby, have young, helter-skelter, higgledy-piggledy, hitch, hodgepodge, hysteron proteron, innerspring mattress, issue, jampan, jumble, jungle, junk, kelter, kip, kitten, labor, lamb, lie in, lumber, manage, mat, mattress, mess, mess up, milk, misarrange, mishmash, muddle, muss, muss up, nest, odds and ends, offal, offspring, pad, pallet, pillow, pup, raff, refuse, riffraff, rub down, rubbish, rubble, ruffle, rug, rummage, rumple, saddle, scatter, scramble, scrap, sedan, sedan chair, shoddy, sleeping bag, sofa, spat, spawn, springs, stretcher, strew, tame, tend, the hay, the sack, throw, topsy-turviness, topsy-turvydom, tousle, train, trash, travail, truck, tumble, turmoil, underbed, underbedding, unholy mess, waste, water, welter, whelp, yean, yoke, young

ROGET THESAURUS

litter

Inutility

N inutility, uselessness, inefficacy, futility, ineptitude, inaptitude, unsubservience, inadequacy, inefficiency, unskillfulness, disservice, unfruitfulness (unproductiveness), labor in vain, labor lost, labor of Sisyphus, lost trouble, lost labor, work of Penelope, sleeveless errand, wild goose chase, mere farce, tautology, supererogation, vanitas vanitatum, vanity, inanity, worthlessness, nugacity, triviality, caput mortuum, waste paper, dead letter, blunt tool, litter, rubbish, junk, lumber, odds and ends, cast-off clothes, button top, shoddy, rags, orts, trash, refuse, sweepings, scourings, offscourings, waste, rubble, debris, detritus, stubble, leavings, broken meat, dregs, weeds, tares, rubbish heap, dust hole, rudera, deads, fruges consumere natus, useless, inutile, inefficacious, futile, unavailing, bootless, inoperative, inadequate, inservient, unsubservient, inept, inefficient, of no avail, ineffectual, incompetent, stale, flat and unprofitable, superfluous, dispensable, thrown away, abortive, worthless, valueless, priceless, unsalable, not worth a straw, dear at any price, vain, empty, inane, gainless, profitless, fruitless, unserviceable, unprofitable, ill-spent, unproductive, hors de combat, effete, past work, obsolete, fit for the dust hole, good for nothing, of no earthly use, not worth having, not worth powder and shot, leading to no end, uncalled for, unnecessary, unneeded, uselessly, to little purpose, to no purpose, to little or no purpose, Int, cui bono?, what's the good!, actum ne agas, chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin, tanto buon che val niente.

Disorder

N disorder, derangement, irregularity, anomaly, anarchy, anarchism, want of method, untidiness, disunion, discord, confusion, confusedness, mishmash, mix, disarray, jumble, huddle, litter, lumber, cahotage, farrago, mess, mash, muddle, muss, hash, hodgepodge, hotch-potch, hotch-pot, imbroglio, chaos, omnium gatherum, medley, mere mixture, fortuitous concourse of atoms, disjecta membra, rudis indigestaque moles, complexity, turmoil, ferment, to-do, trouble, pudder, pother, row, rumble, disturbance, hubbub, convulsion, tumult, uproar, revolution, riot, rumpus, stour, scramble, brawl, fracas, rhubarb, fight, free-for-all, row, ruction, rumpus, embroilment, melee, spill and pelt, rough and tumble, whirlwind, bear garden, Babel, Saturnalia, donnybrook, Donnybrook Fair, confusion worse confounded, most admired disorder, concordia discors, Bedlam, all hell broke loose, bull in a china shop, all the fat in the fire, diable a' quatre, Devil to pay, pretty kettle of fish, pretty piece of work, pretty piece of business, disorderly person, disorderly persons offence, misdemeanor, slattern, slut (libertine), disorderly, orderless, out of order, out of place, out of gear, irregular, desultory, anomalous, acephalous, deranged, aimless, disorganized, straggling, unmethodical, immethodical, unsymmetric, unsystematic, untidy, slovenly, dislocated, out of sorts, promiscuous, indiscriminate, chaotic, anarchical, unarranged &c (arrange), confused, deranged, topsy-turvy, shapeless, disjointed, out of joint, troublous, riotous, complex, irregularly, by fits, by fits and snatches, by fits and starts, pellmell, higgledy-piggledy, helter-skelter, harum-scarum, in a ferment, at sixes and sevens, at cross-purposes, upside down, the cart before the horse, hysteron proteron, chaos is come again, the wreck of matter and the crush of worlds.

Derangement

VB derange, disarrange, misarrange, displace, misplace, mislay, discompose, disorder, deorganize, discombobulate, disorganize, embroil, unsettle, disturb, confuse, trouble, perturb, jumble, tumble, shuffle, randomize, huddle, muddle, toss, hustle, fumble, riot, bring into disorder, put into disorder, throw into disorder, muss, break the ranks, disconcert, convulse, break in upon, unhinge, dislocate, put out of joint, throw out of gear, turn topsy-turvy, bedevil, complicate, involve, perplex, confound, imbrangle, embrangle, tangle, entangle, ravel, tousle, towzle, dishevel, ruffle, rumple, litter, scatter, mix, rearrange.

Multitude

N multitude, numerous, numerosity, numerality, multiplicity, profusion, legion, host, great number, large number, round number, enormous number, a quantity, numbers, array, sight, army, sea, galaxy, scores, peck, bushel, shoal, swarm, draught, bevy, cloud, flock, herd, drove, flight, covey, hive, brood, litter, farrow, fry, nest, crowd, lots, all in the world and his wife, greater number, majority, multiplication, multiple, many, several, sundry, divers, various, not a few, Briarean, a hundred, a thousand, a myriad, a million, a quadrillion, a nonillion, a thousand and one, some ten or a dozen, some forty or fifty, half a dozen, half a hundred, very many, full many, ever so many, numerous, numerose, profuse, in profusion, manifold, multiplied, multitudinous, multiple, multinominal, teeming, populous, peopled, crowded, thick, studded, galore, thick coming, many more, more than one can tell, a world of, no end of, no end to, cum multis aliis, thick as hops, thick as hail, plenty as blackberries, numerous as the stars in the firmament, numerous as the sands on the seashore, numerous as the hairs on the head, and what not, and heaven knows what, endless, their name is 'legion', acervatim, en foule, many- headed multitude, numerous as glittering gems of morning dew, vel prece vel pretio.

Posterity

N posterity, progeny, breed, issue, offspring, brood, litter, seed, farrow, spawn, spat, family, grandchildren, heirs, great-grandchild, child, son, daughter, butcha, bantling, scion, acrospire, plumule, shoot, sprout, olive-branch, sprit, branch, off-shoot, off- set, ramification, descendant, heir, heiress, heir-apparent, heir- presumptive, chip off the old block, heredity, rising generation, straight descent, sonship, line, lineage, filiation, primogeniture, filial, diphyletic, the child is father of the man, the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, like father, like son.

Support

N support, ground, foundation, base, basis, terra firma, bearing, fulcrum, bait, caudex crib, point d'appui, pou sto, purchase footing, hold, locus standi, landing place, landing stage, stage, platform, block, rest, resting place, groundwork, substratum, riprap, sustentation, subvention, floor, supporter, aid, prop, stand, anvil, fulciment, cue rest, jigger, monkey, stay, shore, skid, rib, truss, bandage, sleeper, stirrup, stilts, shoe, sole, heel, splint, lap, bar, rod, boom, sprit, outrigger, ratlings, staff, stick, crutch, alpenstock, baton, staddle, bourdon, cowlstaff, lathi, mahlstick, post, pillar, shaft, thill, column, pilaster, pediment, pedicle, pedestal, plinth, shank, leg, socle, zocle, buttress, jamb, mullion, abutment, baluster, banister, stanchion, balustrade, headstone, upright, door post, jamb, door jamb, frame, framework, scaffold, skeleton, beam, rafter, girder, lintel, joist, travis, trave, corner stone, summer, transom, rung, round, step, sill, angle rafter, hip rafter, cantilever, modillion, crown post, king post, vertebra, columella, backbone, keystone, axle, axletree, axis, arch, mainstay, trunnion, pivot, rowlock, peg, tiebeam, thole pin, board, ledge, shelf, hob, bracket, trevet, trivet, arbor, rack, mantel, mantle piece, mantleshelf, slab, console, counter, dresser, flange, corbel, table, trestle, shoulder, perch, horse, easel, desk, clotheshorse, hatrack, retable, teapoy, seat, throne, dais, divan, musnud, chair, bench, form, stool, sofa, settee, stall, arm chair, easy chair, elbow chair, rocking chair, couch, fauteuil, woolsack, ottoman, settle, squab, bench, aparejo, faldstool, horn, long chair, long sleeve chair, morris chair, lamba chauki, lamba kursi, saddle, pannel, pillion, side saddle, pack saddle, pommel, bed, berth, pallet, tester, crib, cot, hammock, shakedown, trucklebed, cradle, litter, stretcher, bedstead, four poster, French bed, bunk, kip, palang, bedding, bichhona, mattress, paillasse, pillow, bolster, mat, rug, cushion, footstool, hassock, tabouret, tripod, monopod, Atlas, Persides, Atlantes, Caryatides, Hercules, supporting, supported, fundamental, dorsigerous, astride on, straddle.

Vehicle

N vehicle, conveyance, carriage, caravan, van, common carrier, wagon, waggon, wain, dray, cart, lorry, truck, tram, cariole, carriole, limber, tumbrel, pontoon, barrow, wheel barrow, hand barrow, perambulator, Bath chair, wheel chair, sedan chair, chaise, palankeen, palanquin, litter, brancard, crate, hurdle, stretcher, ambulance, black Maria, conestoga wagon, conestoga wain, jinrikisha, ricksha, brett, dearborn, dump cart, hack, hackery, jigger, kittereen, mailstate, manomotor, rig, rockaway, prairie schooner, shay, sloven, team, tonga, wheel, hobbyhorse, go-cart, cycle, bicycle, bike, two-wheeler, tricycle, velocipede, quadricycle, equipage, turn-out, coach, chariot, phaeton, break, mail phaeton, wagonette, drag, curricle, tilbury, whisky, landau, barouche, victoria, brougham, clarence, calash, caleche, britzka, araba, kibitka, berlin, sulky, desobligeant, sociable, vis-a-vis, dormeuse, jaunting car, outside car, dandi, doolie, dooly, munchil, palki, roller skates, skate, runabout, ski, tonjon, vettura, post chaise, diligence, stage, stage coach, mail coach, hackney coach, glass coach, stage wagon, car, omnibus, fly, cabriolet, cab, hansom, shofle, four-wheeler, growler, droshki, drosky, dogcart, trap, whitechapel, buggy, four-in-hand, unicorn, random, tandem, shandredhan, char-a-bancs, motor car, automobile, limousine, car, auto, jalopy, clunker, lemon, flivver, coupe, sedan, two-door sedan, four-door sedan, luxury sedan, wheels, sports car, roadster, gran turismo, jeep, four-wheel drive vehicle, electric car, steamer, golf cart, electric wagon, taxicab, cab, taxicoach, checker cab, yellow cab, station wagon, family car, motorcycle, motor bike, side car, van, minivan, bus, minibus, microbus, truck, wagon, pick-up wagon, pick-up, tractor- trailer, road train, articulated vehicle, racing car, racer, hot rod, stock car, souped-up car, bob, bobsled, bobsleigh, cutter, double ripper, double runner, jumper, sled, sledge, sleigh, toboggan, train, accommodation train, passenger train, express trail, special train, corridor train, parliamentary train, luggage train, freight train, goods train, 1st class train, 2nd class train, 3rd class train, 1st class carriage, 2nd class carriage, 3rd class carriage, 1st class compartment, 2nd class compartment, 3rd class compartment, rolling stock, horse box, cattle truck, baggage car, express car, freight car, parlor car, dining car, Pullman car, sleeping car, sleeper, dome car, surface car, tram car, trolley car, box car, box wagon, horse car, bullet train, shinkansen, cannonball, the Wabash cannonball, lightning express, luggage van, mail, mail car, mail van, shovel, spool, spatula, ladle, hod, hoe, spade, spaddle, loy, spud, pitchfork, post hole digger, tractor, steamshovel, backhoe, fork lift, earth mover, dump truck, bulldozer, grader, caterpillar, trench digger, steamroller, pile driver, crane, wrecking crane.