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litter

litter

5 9.9
A chair or bed carried on poles to move a person
  • noun
  • /ˈlɪtər/
  • Archaic
translation icon : palanquín
  • I organized the construction of a litter out of branches, and we bore the great warrior home.
  • carried on a litter
  • a two-person litter

Examples

  • Here is a litter ready for Your Grace.

  • I walked beside the dead man, borne on a makeshift litter of pine boughs.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • We had two litter teams, four men to a litter team.

  • Will you take the litter in, please?

  • We could make a litter and have some of the boys carry you.

  • "I was told you had a litter to be carried.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • I think the United States Army can spare a litter.

  • The body is then carried on a litter from the household in the village to the cremation site.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Two men pick him up and carry him across to a litter, where they carefully wrap him in blankets.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • The soldiers carried the wounded officer on a litter through the dense forest.

Idioms

5 3.7

The best or most wanted one in a group, like the strongest puppy

Compounds

18 1.8

A box with soft material that cats use to pee and poo indoors

11 2.5

A soft clay material put in a box to soak up a cat's waste

A situation where trash builds up and causes problems

1.5

A bin in public places where people put trash

A person who carries a stretcher to move injured people

1.4

A bin in public places for people to put rubbish in

litter lout
  • Offensive
7.7

A person who drops trash in public places

How Enclosed

palanquin
  • Archaic
1 9.9
sedan chair
  • Archaic
1 9.9
covered couch
  • Archaic
9.9
litter
  • Archaic
5 9.9

Surface Forms

litter singular
litters plural

Etymology

Litter for the chair or bed carried by people comes from Old French litiere 'bed', because it was a bed or seat made to be carried. That is why a litter was used to carry a person from one place to another.