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Definition of litter
1a : a covered and curtained couch provided with shafts and used for carrying a single passenger a litter carried on the shoulders of four men — Edwin Tunisb : a device (such as a stretcher) for carrying a sick or injured person The wounded soldier was carried to the rear by litter.
2a (1) : material used as bedding for animals Fibrous peat was used as litter for livestock. (2) : material used to absorb the urine and feces of animalsb : the uppermost slightly decayed layer of organic matter on the forest floor
3 : the offspring at one birth of a multiparous animal a litter of puppies
4a : trash, wastepaper, or garbage lying scattered about trying to clean up the roadside litterb : an untidy accumulation of objects a shabby writing-desk covered with a litter of yellowish dusty documents — Joseph Conrad
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Examples of litter in a Sentence
We decided to pick up the litter in the park.
Her desk was covered with a litter of legal documents.
Recent Examples of litter from the Web
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Rose’s litter was born on May 4 and Bella’s nine days later.
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For those who can't adopt but would still like to help, Weatherford Parker County Animal Shelter always appreciates donations of cat litter, dog food, cat food, trash bags and cleaning supplies.
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The cubs did fine either way, the team found, though mothers who spent more time with their cubs tended to have fewer litters in the long run.
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Miami-Dade also would stop sending trash crews to pick up shopping carts left on county medians and roadsides, and discontinue regular litter patrols in the unincorporated areas.
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Effective immediately, our relatively peaceful home was transformed into a 24-hour animal shelter, with multiple litter boxes, bowls of stinky food pebbles and hissing cats everywhere.
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They were transported to Arizona where they were placed with a litter in a wild wolf pack den in the Panther Creek area.
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Stop often to give your pet a chance to stretch his legs or at least get out of the crate, use the litter box or the great outdoors, and to get a drink.
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More than 300 North Kansas City School District students from Oak Park High School on April 19 volunteered four hours of their time to eliminate litter and paint park benches and picnic tables.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'litter'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Illustration of litter
Origin and Etymology of litter
Middle English, from Anglo-French litere, from lit bed, from Latin lectus — more at lie
litter
Definition of litter
transitive verb
1 : bed 1a
2 : to give birth to a litter of (young)
3a : to strew with scattered articlesb : to scatter about in disorderc : to lie about in disorder their upside-down hats littered the top of the bar — Michael Chabond : to mark with objects scattered at random a book littered with misprints
intransitive verb
1 : to give birth to a litter
2 : to strew litter
Examples of litter in a Sentence
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.
Recent Examples of litter from the Web
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The Knicks won only 80 games in Jackson’s three years at the helm, and his tenure was littered with baffling decision after baffling decision.
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But don’t despair: The Internet is littered with free guides to The Startup Way.
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Its riders race against the clock, threading their bikes over twisty tracks, muddy roots, and steep sections littered with large rocks.
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Around the same time, Reid was remodeling her kitchen, and her home was littered with Echos.
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The residence was littered with garbage and bags of clothing, and roaches were crawling in the kitchen, according to the affidavit.
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The series is littered with fetch quests of all sorts.
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The story of high-rise social housing after World War II is littered with travesties, and Grenfell, an uninspired vertical bunker built in 1974, is yet one more instance in a wearisome pattern.
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As of Friday night, posts on Moore's Facebook page had been tagged with hundreds of pride reactions, and others had littered the comments beneath the posts with pride flag emojis.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'litter'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of litter
see 1litter
LITTER Defined for English Language Learners
litter
playDefinition of litter for English Language Learners
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: things that have been thrown away and that are lying on the ground in a public place
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: a messy pile or group of things
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: dry material that is spread in a container and used as a toilet by animals (especially cats) while they are indoors
litter
Definition of litter for English Language Learners
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: to cover (a surface) with many things in an untidy way
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: to throw or leave trash on the ground in a public place
LITTER Defined for Kids
Definition of litter for Students
1 : the young born to an animal at a single time a litter of pigs
2 : a messy collection of things scattered about : trash We picked up the litter in our neighborhood.
3 : material used to soak up the urine and feces of animals
4 : a covered and curtained couch having poles and used for carrying a single passenger
5 : a stretcher for carrying a sick or wounded person
History for litter
The different meanings of the word litter all grew out of the basic notion “bed.” In Old French, litiere, a derivative of lit, “bed,” could refer to a sleeping place in a general way, but it was more typically applied to either a curtained portable couch, or to straw spread on the ground as a sleeping place for animals. In borrowing the word, English kept both usages and added new ones. The “bedding for animals” sense was extended to the offspring of an animal such as a dog. In a different direction, litter became not just straw for animal bedding, but straw or similar material spread around for any purpose, and by the 1700s any odds and ends of rubbish lying scattered about.
Definition of litter for Students
littered
;littering
1 : to throw or leave trash on the ground
2 : to cover in an untidy way Leaves littered the yard.
Medical Dictionary
Medical Definition of litter
1: a device (as a stretcher) for carrying a sick or injured person
2: the offspring at one birth of a multiparous animal
litter
Medical Definition of litter
: to give birth to a litter of (young)
intransitive verb
: to give birth to a litter
Learn More about litter
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See words that rhyme with litter Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for litter Spanish Central: Translation of litter Nglish: Translation of litter for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of litter for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about litter
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