Emily Dickinson Lexicon

LIT'TER, n. [Fr. litiere, from lit; contracted from L. lectus, from the root of lego, Eng. lay; It. lettica, or lettiga; Sp. litera; Port. liteira; Arm. leter.]

1. A vehicle formed with shafts supporting a bed between them, in which a person may be borne by men or by a horse. If by the latter, it is called a horse-litter. A similar vehicle in India is called a palanquin.
2. Straw, hay or other soft substance, used as a bed for horses and for other purposes.
3. [Ice. lider, generation, from the root of lad, leod.] A brood of young pigs, kittens, puppies, or other quadrupeds. The word is applied only to certain quadrupeds, of the smaller kinds. [Qu. the root of lad.]
4. A birth of pigs or other small animals.
5. Waste matters, shreds, fragments and the like, scattered on a floor or, other clean place.