litter
pronunciation
How to pronounce litter in British English:
UK [ˈlɪtə(r)]
How to pronounce litter in American English:
US [ˈlɪtər]
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- Noun:
- the offspring at one birth of a multiparous mammal
- rubbish carelessly dropped or left about (especially in public places)
- conveyance consisting of a chair or bed carried on two poles by bearers
- material used to provide a bed for animals
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- Verb:
- strew
- make a place messy by strewing garbage around
- give birth to a litter of animals
Word Origin
- litter
- litter: [13] The word litter has come a long way semantically since it was born, from ‘bed’ to ‘rubbish scattered untidily’. It goes back ultimately to Latin lectus ‘bed’, a distant relative of English lie and source of French lit ‘bed’ (which forms the final syllable of English coverlet [13], etymologically ‘bed-cover’). From lectus was derived medieval Latin lectāria, which passed into English via Old French litiere and Anglo-Norman litere ‘bed’.This original sense was soon extended in English to a ‘portable conveyance or stretcher’, which still survives, just, as an archaism, but the word’s main modern sense, which first emerged fully in the 18th century, derives from the notion of scattering straw over the floor for bedding.=> coverlet
- litter (n.)
- c. 1300, "a bed," also "bed-like vehicle carried on men's shoulders" (early 14c.), from Anglo-French litere "portable bed," Old French litiere "litter, stretcher, bier; straw, bedding," from Medieval Latin lectaria "litter" (altered in French by influence of lit "bed"), from Latin lectus "bed, couch," from PIE *legh-to-, from root *legh- "to lie" (see lie (v.2)). Meaning extended early 15c. to "straw used for bedding" (early 14c. in Anglo-French) and late 15c. to "offspring of an animal at one birth" (in one bed); sense of "scattered oddments, disorderly debris" is first attested 1730, probably from Middle English verb literen "provide with bedding" (late 14c.), with notion of strewing straw. Litter by 19c. had come to mean both the straw bedding and the animal waste in it after use.
- litter (v.)
- late 14c., "provide with bedding," from litter (n.). Meaning "to strew with objects" is from 1713. Transitive sense of "to scatter in a disorderly way" is from 1731. Related: Littered; littering.
Example
- 1. Whether or not we recycle , litter the street or evade tax often comes down to our perception of society 's view .
- 2. Civilians have been killed in raids by government aircraft , bodies litter the streets , and the town , say the refugees , has run out of food and water .
- 3. Landowners are not supposed to block footpaths , or leave hikers at the mercy of an angry bull ; walkers are supposed to shut gates , leave no litter and keep their dogs under control .
- 4. But could cctv " creep " , including the use of them to punish people who drop litter or fail to clean up after their dogs , threaten public support for a vital crime fighting tool ?
- 5. Other researchers have found that sex ratio of the litter itself affects adult behavior .