Noun
We decided to pick up the litter in the park.
Her desk was covered with a litter of legal documents. Verb
Paper and popcorn littered the streets after the parade.
a desk littered with old letters and bills
It is illegal to litter.
He had to pay a fine for littering.
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Noun
So, the litter was split between the two rescues—and ICARe got Scotty and his sister, Tabby—who has now been renamed as Mocha.—Maria Morava, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025 As our planet plows through this cosmic litter, the tiny particles burn up in our atmosphere, creating streaks of light across the sky.—Tiffany Acosta, AZCentral.com, 8 July 2025
Verb
Plastic bag bans and fees could help reduce the number ending up littering shorelines by at least a quarter, according to a new analysis.—Jamie Hailstone, Forbes.com, 27 June 2025 Different teams do this over and over, with the debris littering vans.—Seth Borenstein, Christian Science Monitor, 23 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for litter
Word History
Etymology
Noun and Verb
Middle English, from Anglo-French litere, from lit bed, from Latin lectus — more at lie
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