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Litter vs Dust - What's the difference?

litter | dust |

In countable|lang=en terms the difference between litter and dust

is that litter is (countable) the offspring of a mammal born in one birth while dust is (countable) the act of cleaning by dusting.

In uncountable|lang=en terms the difference between litter and dust

is that litter is (uncountable) layer of fallen leaves and similar organic matter in a forest floor while dust is (uncountable) fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.

In lang=en terms the difference between litter and dust

is that litter is to be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter while dust is to spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.

As nouns the difference between litter and dust

is that litter is (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 while dust is (uncountable) fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.

As verbs the difference between litter and dust

is that litter is to drop or throw trash without properly disposing of it (as discarding in public areas rather than trash receptacles) while dust is to remove dust from.

litter

English

Noun

(wikipedia litter)
  • (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.
  • * Shakespeare
  • There is a litter ready; lay him in 't.
  • (countable) The offspring of a mammal born in one birth.
  • * D. Estrange
  • A wolf came to a sow, and very kindly offered to take care of her litter .
  • (uncountable) Material used as bedding for animals.
  • (uncountable) Collectively, items discarded on the ground.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • Strephon / Stole in, and took a strict survey / Of all the litter as it lay.
  • (uncountable) Absorbent material used in an animal's litter tray
  • (uncountable) Layer of fallen leaves and similar organic matter in a forest floor.
  • A covering of straw for plants.
  • * Evelyn
  • Take off the litter from your kernel beds.

    Synonyms

    * (platform designed to carry a person or a load): palanquin, sedan chair, stretcher, cacolet * (items discarded on the ground): waste, rubbish, garbage (US), trash (US), junk

    Derived terms

    * cat litter * litter bin * litter bug, litterbug * litter frog

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • 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 .
  • To strew with scattered articles.
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • the room with volumes littered round
  • To give birth to, used of animals.
  • * Sir Thomas Browne
  • We might conceive that dogs were created blind, because we observe they were littered so with us.
  • * Shakespeare
  • The son that she did litter here, / A freckled whelp hagborn.
  • To produce a litter of young.
  • * Macaulay
  • A desert where the she-wolf still littered .
  • To supply (cattle etc.) with litter; to cover with litter, as the floor of a stall.
  • * Bishop Hacke
  • Tell them how they litter their jades.
  • * Dryden
  • For his ease, well littered was the floor.
  • To be supplied with litter as bedding; to sleep or make one's bed in litter.
  • * Habington
  • The inn where he and his horse littered .

    Derived terms

    * litterer

    Anagrams

    * ---- ==Jèrriais==

    Verb

    (roa-jer-verb)
  • to wrestle
  • Derived terms

    *

    dust

    English

    Noun

  • (uncountable) Fine, dry particles of matter found in the air and covering the surface of objects, typically consisting of soil lifted up by the wind, pollen, hair, etc.
  • (countable) The act of cleaning by dusting.
  • * 2010 , Joan Busfield, Michael Paddon, Thinking About Children: Sociology and Fertility in Post-War England (page 150)
  • once they start school, I mean you can do a room out one day, the next day it only needs a dust , doesn't it?
  • (obsolete) A single particle of earth or other material.
  • * Shakespeare
  • to touch a dust of England's ground
  • The earth, as the resting place of the dead.
  • * Bible, Job vii. 21
  • I shall sleep in the dust .
  • The earthy remains of bodies once alive; the remains of the human body.
  • * Tennyson
  • And you may carve a shrine about my dust .
  • (figurative) Something worthless.
  • * Shakespeare
  • And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust .
  • (figurative) A low or mean condition.
  • * Bible, 1 Sam. ii. 8
  • [God] raiseth up the poor out of the dust .
  • (slang, dated) cash; money (in reference to gold dust).
  • (mathematics) A totally disconnected set of points with a fractal structure.
  • Derived terms

    * angel dust * bite the dust * catch dust * dust ball * dustbin, dust bin * dust devil * dustbowl, dust bowl * dust bunny * dust filter * dustman * dust mask * dustpan * duststorm * dust trap * dust-up * dusty * fairy dust * goofer dust * pixie dust * smart dust, smartdust * stardust * turn to dust

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To remove dust from.
  • * , chapter=12
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.}}
  • To remove dust; to clean by removing dust.
  • Of a bird, to cover itself in sand or dry, dusty earth.
  • To spray or cover something with fine powder or liquid.
  • To leave; to rush off.
  • * 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), (The Big Sleep) , Penguin 2011, p. 75:
  • He added in a casual tone: ‘The girl can dust . I'd like to talk to you a little, soldier.’
  • To reduce to a fine powder; to levigate.
  • (Sprat)

    Derived terms

    * dust off * duster

    See also

    * vacuum cleaner