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Antonyms for litter

Grammar : Noun, verb
Spell : lit-er
Phonetic Transcription : ˈlɪt ər


Definition of litter

Origin :
  • 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.
  • noun mess, debris
  • noun animal offspring
  • verb make a mess
Example sentences :
  • The horses were without stalls or litter, in a dark, ill-paved barn.
  • Extract from : « Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327 » by Various
  • There was such a litter as always gathers around a literary man.
  • Extract from : « Biographical Sketches » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • I flushed to see her regard the litter about me with calm deliberateness.
  • Extract from : « The Bacillus of Beauty » by Harriet Stark
  • The hallways were strewn with straw and the litter of packing.
  • Extract from : « In the Valley » by Harold Frederic
  • The boys took turns with Trapper Jim in carrying the litter.
  • Extract from : « With Trapper Jim in the North Woods » by Lawrence J. Leslie
  • With two exceptions, these cats have never had more than two kittens at a litter.
  • Extract from : « Concerning Cats » by Helen M. Winslow
  • The she-wolf, too, left her litter and went out in search of meat.
  • Extract from : « White Fang » by Jack London
  • No more had he thought so, than the litter came along, and he seated himself in it.
  • Extract from : « The Chinese Fairy Book » by Various
  • In every litter sat a veiled woman, and the princess was in their midst.
  • Extract from : « The Chinese Fairy Book » by Various
  • Then the little snake crawled into the litter, and the captain followed after.
  • Extract from : « The Chinese Fairy Book » by Various

Synonyms for litter

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019