litter

Etymology

From Middle English lytere, litere, from Anglo-Norman litiere, from Late Latin lectuāria (“bedding”), from Latin lectus (“bed”). Compare French litière. Had the sense of ‘bed’ in very early English, but then came to mean ‘portable couch’, ‘bedding’, ‘strewn rushes (for animals)’, etc.

noun

1. (countable) A platform mounted on two shafts, or a more elaborate construction, designed to be carried by two (or more) people to transport one (in luxury models sometimes more) third person(s) or (occasionally in the elaborate version) a cargo, such as a religious idol.
   When they went out, they sat in litters, which were curtained. 1922, Maneckji Nusservanji Dhalla, Zoroastrian Civilization, page 219
   "The Chengtu revolutionaries were fantastically colourful in the Szechwanese manner—they costumed themselves as heroes of the stage and their energies were chiefly occupied in tying ropes across the main streets so that when Imperial officials rode by in their litters they would have to get down and crawl under, losing face. 1942 March, “Notes and News: Monument to a Stillborn Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 88
2. (collective, countable) The offspring of a mammal born in one birth.
   The runt of the litter is a puppy that is the smallest or weakest among the newborn dogs in a litter .
3. (uncountable) Material used as bedding for animals.
   sleep in the litter
4. (uncountable) Collectively, items discarded on the ground.
   Don't drop litter
   Put litter in the bin
   Strephon … Stole in, and took a strict survey Of all the litter as it lay. 1730, Jonathan Swift, The Lady's Dressing Room
   The British people seem incapable of avoiding the habit of leaving litter wherever they go, and the railways certainly seem to receive their fair share of it, in carriages and on stations. 1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, page 254
5. (uncountable) Absorbent material used in an animal's litter tray
   the cat's litter
6. (uncountable) Layer of fallen leaves and similar organic matter in a forest floor.
7. A covering of straw for plants.

verb

1. (intransitive) To drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it (as discarding in public areas rather than trash receptacles).
   By tossing the bottle out the window, he was littering.
2. (transitive) To scatter carelessly about.
3. (transitive) To strew (a place) with scattered articles.
4. (transitive) To give birth to, in the manner of animals.
5. (intransitive) To produce a litter of young.
6. (transitive) To supply (cattle etc.) with litter; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall.
   Tell them how they litter their jades. 1693, John Hacket, Scrinia reserata: a Memorial offered to the great Deservings of John Williams
7. (intransitive) To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter.
   The inn where he and his horse litter'd. 1634, William Habington, Castara