litter
[ lit-er ]
/ ˈlɪt ər /
noun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
to give birth to a litter: The cat had littered in the closet.
to strew objects about: If you litter, you may be fined.
Idioms for litter
- the best or choicest of the animals, especially puppies, in a litter.
- the best of any class, group, or available selection.
pick of the litter,
Origin of litter
1250–1300; Middle English
litere bed, litter < Anglo-French; Old French
litiere < Medieval Latin
lectāria, equivalent to Latin
lect(us) bed +
-āria feminine of
-ārius
-er2
SYNONYMS FOR litter
synonym study for litter
3. See
brood.
OTHER WORDS FROM litter
Words nearby litter
litt.m.,
littb,
littd,
litten,
litten's phenomenon,
litter,
litter lout,
litterae humaniores,
litteratim,
litterbag,
litterbug
British Dictionary definitions for pick of the litter
litter
/ (ˈlɪtə) /
noun
verb
Word Origin for litter
C13 (in the sense: bed): via Anglo-French, ultimately from Latin
lectus bed
Medical definitions for pick of the litter
litter
[ lĭt′ər ]
n.
A flat supporting framework, such as a piece of canvas stretched between parallel shafts, for carrying a disabled or dead person; a stretcher.
The offspring produced at one birth by a multiparous mammal.
brood
Idioms and Phrases with pick of the litter
pick of the litter
The best of a group, as in He was first in the ticket line so he had the pick of the litter. This term, alluding to the most desirable one from a litter of puppies or kittens, supplanted such earlier variants as pick of the market, pick of the parish, and pick of the basket. [Early 1900s]