litter

lit|ter¹ [ˈlıtə US -ər] n

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1¦(waste)¦

2¦(baby animals)¦

3¦(for cat's toilet)¦

4¦(forest)¦

5 a litter of something

6¦(for animal's bed)¦

7¦(bed)¦

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[Date: 1300-1400; : Old French; Origin: litiere, from lit 'bed']

1.) ¦(WASTE)¦[U]

waste paper, cans etc that people have thrown away and left on the ground in a public place

= ↑rubbish, trash ↑trash, garbage ↑garbage

▪ People who drop litter can be fined in some cities.

▪ a town with a litter problem

2.) ¦(BABY ANIMALS)¦

a group of baby animals that a mother gives birth to at the same time

litter of

▪ a litter of kittens

3.) ¦(FOR CAT'S TOILET)¦[U]

small grains of a dry substance that is put in a container that a cat uses as a toilet indoors

▪ cat litter

▪ a litter tray

4.) ¦(FOREST)¦[U]

leaf litter

dead leaves and other decaying plants on the ground in a forest

5.) a litter of sth

literary a group of things that look very untidy

▪ A litter of notes, papers, and textbooks were strewn on the desk.

6.) ¦(FOR ANIMAL'S BED)¦[U]

a substance such as ↑straw that a farm animal sleeps on

7.) ¦(BED)¦

a chair or bed for carrying important people, used in past times

litter ²

litter² v

1.) also litter up [T]

if things litter an area, there are a lot of them in that place, scattered in an untidy way

▪ Clothes littered the floor.

litter sth with sth

▪ The desk was littered with papers.

2.) be littered with sth

if something is littered with things, there are a lot of those things in it

= ↑be full of something

▪ Recent business news has been littered with stories of companies failing.

3.) [I and T]

to leave waste paper, cans etc on the ground in a public place

4.) [i]technical

if an animal such as a dog or cat litters, it gives birth to babies