litter
verb/ˈlɪtə(r)/
/ˈlɪtər/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they litter | /ˈlɪtə(r)/ /ˈlɪtər/ |
| he / she / it litters | /ˈlɪtəz/ /ˈlɪtərz/ |
| past simple littered | /ˈlɪtəd/ /ˈlɪtərd/ |
| past participle littered | /ˈlɪtəd/ /ˈlɪtərd/ |
| -ing form littering | /ˈlɪtərɪŋ/ /ˈlɪtərɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] litter something to be spread around a place, making it look untidy
- Piles of books and newspapers littered the floor.
- Broken glass littered the streets.
- [transitive, usually passive, intransitive] to leave things in a place, making it look untidy
- be littered with something The floor was littered with papers.
- He was arrested for littering.
- [transitive] be littered with somethingto contain or involve a lot of a particular type of thing, usually something bad
- Your essay is littered with spelling mistakes.
Word OriginMiddle English (originally referring to a structure used to carry people carried on men's shoulders or by animals): from Old French litiere, from medieval Latin lectaria, from Latin lectus ‘bed’. Senses 1 and 2 date from the mid 18th cent.
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