be a litterbug
To discard trash outside of a trash receptacle in a public place. Hey, pick that gum wrapper up right now! I didn't raise you to be a litterbug! I know there's no trash can around here, but I refuse to be a litterbug. I'll just take this stuff with me and throw it out at home. Don't be a litterbug, go find a trash can!
litter (something or some place) up
To make something or some place very messy or untidy. I hate the way he litters up his desk with papers and dirty plates—it just looks really unprofessional. The room wasn't clean for more than an hour before the kids had littered it up with toys and bits of food.
litter (something) about
To throw things on the ground in an untidy manner. My roommate is always littering his clothes about the house. It drives me crazy! You really shouldn't litter your trash about like that.
litter (something) around
To throw things on the ground in an untidy manner. My roommate is always littering his clothes around the house. It drives me crazy! You really shouldn't litter your trash around like that.
litterbug
Someone who discards trash outside of a trash receptacle in a public place. Hey, pick that gum wrapper up right now! I didn't raise a litterbug! I know there's no trash can around here, but I refuse to be a litterbug. I'll just take this stuff with me and throw it out at home.
pick of the litter
The best or most ideal option in a group. (A "litter" is a group of newborn mammals, especially puppies or kittens.) Matt is the pick of the litter, so we need to make sure he ends up on our team. I know you think that puppy is too small, but to me he's just the pick of the litter!
runt of the litter
The smallest and weakest person in a group, especially a group of siblings. (A "litter" is a group of newborn mammals, the smallest of which is least likely to thrive or survive.) Even though I'm the middle child, I've always been the runt of the litter in our family—even my younger sister picks on me because she's taller than I am.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
litter something about
and litter something aroundto cast around something, such as trash, clothing, personal possessions, etc. Don't litter all that stuff about. I wish you wouldn't litter your trash around.
litter something up
to mess something up with litter, trash, possessions, etc. Who littered this room up? Who littered up this room?
runt of the litter
1. Lit. the smallest animal born in a litter; the animal in a litter least likely to survive. No one wanted to buy the runt of the litter, so we kept it.
2. and the runt of the family Fig. the smallest child in the family. I was the runt of the litter and the butt of all the jokes.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
pick of the litter, the
The best of the lot. Versions of this term have been around in various forms for a long time—from the pick of the market and pick of the parish to the pick of the basket (all nineteenth century) and pick of the bunch (twentieth century). The cliché alludes to selecting the most desirable from a litter of puppies.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer