litter

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   strew

   Cigar butts littered the ground

2. 2
   noun

   Straw, grass, and similar loose material used as bedding for people or animals.

   Quen he had made me hale and fere

3. 3
   noun

   A mobile bed or couch transported upon or suspended from poles placed over human shoulders or animal backs.

   ... In a lytter made tho full royall...

4. 4
   noun

   An act of giving birth to a number of live young at the same time.

   Let new planted Elms be kept moist by frequent refreſhings upon ſome half-rotten Fern, or Litter laid about the foot of the ſtem...

5. 5
   noun

   The whole group of live young born at the same time, typically in reference to mammals or (figurative, derogatory) unpleasant people or objects.

   A Wolf came to a Sow, and very Kindly Offer'd to take care of her Litter.

6. 6
   noun

   Waste or debris, originally any mess but now particularly trash left or thrown on the ground.

   Near-synonyms: garbage; see also Thesaurus:trash

7. 7
   noun

   A bed, a substrate formed from loose materials.

   Having first made a litter of shingles, planks or billets, with a layer of charcoal powder several inches in thickness...

8. 8
   noun

   The layer of fallen leaves and other loose organic material on the ground in a forest.

   Litter, that portion of the forest floor which is not in an advanced state of decomposition.

Etymology

From Middle English litere, lytere, etc., from Anglo-Norman litere, litiere, etc., 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.