litter - Dictionary Definition : Vocabulary.com

If everyone decided to litter, or drop trash on the ground, the world would be covered in garbage. Litter doesn't always have to be trashy though. When a cat has kittens, they are born as a litter.

Don't be confused when you go to England and see the word litter written all over garbage cans. That's just the Brits' way of saying trash. The word litter comes from the Old French litiere meaning "bed." Animals like dogs or cats have their offspring all in one birth, or on the same bed, making what we call a litter, or group of babies.

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: litter

1	n v	rubbish carelessly dropped or left about (especially in public places) make a place messy by strewing garbage around
2	n v	the offspring at one birth of a multiparous mammal give birth to a litter of animals
3	n	conveyance consisting of a chair or bed carried on two poles by bearers

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: litter

1

n rubbish carelessly dropped or left about (especially in public places)

Type of:: rubbish, scrap, trash
worthless material that is to be disposed of

v make a place messy by strewing garbage around

Type of:: straw, strew
spread by scattering ("straw" is archaic)

v strew

“Cigar butts littered the ground”

Type of:: be
have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)

2

n the offspring at one birth of a multiparous mammal

Type of:: animal group
a group of animals

n material used to provide a bed for animals

Synonyms:: bedding, bedding material

Type of:: material, stuff
the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object

v give birth to a litter of animals

Type of:: bear, birth, deliver, give birth, have
cause to be born

3

n conveyance consisting of a chair or bed carried on two poles by bearers

Types:: show 6 types...; hide 6 types...; covered couch
a litter with a cover for privacy; palankeen, palanquin
a closed litter carried on the shoulders of four bearers; sedan, sedan chair
a closed litter for one passenger; stretcher
a litter for transporting people who are ill or wounded or dead; usually consists of a sheet of canvas stretched between two poles; gurney
a metal stretcher with wheels; jampan
a kind of sedan chair used in India

Type of:: conveyance, transport
something that serves as a means of transportation