clutter en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈklʌtə(ɹ)/ (UK)
- /ˈklʌtɚ/ (US)
- [ˈklʌɾɚ] (US)
Etymology
From Middle English cloteren (“to form clots; coagulate; heap on”), from clot (“clot”), equivalent to clot + -er (frequentative suffix). Compare Welsh cludair (“heap, pile”), cludeirio (“to heap”).
Meanings
-
(uncountable) A confused disordered jumble of things.
Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:He saw what a Clutter there was with Huge, Over-grown Pots, Pans, and Spits.
1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
- (uncountable) Background echoes, from clouds etc., on a radar or sonar screen.
-
(alt-of, alternative, collective, countable) Alternative form of clowder.
alt of clowder
It was unbelievable that he was afraid of being ousted from the house of his dreams by one senile old man and a clutter of cats!
1995, Sybil Marshall, The Chequer board, Penguin:there is always a clutter of cats, children, washing, and women with untidy hair.
1946, Blackwood's Magazine, W. Blackwood, page 121:Organizing ghost stories is like herding a clutter of cats: the phenomenon resists organization and classification.
2008, John Robert Colombo, The Big Book of Canadian Ghost Stories, Introduction:
-
(countable, obsolete, uncountable) Clatter; confused noise.
October 14 1718, John Arbuthnot, letter to Jonathan Swift I hardly heard a word of news or politicks, except a little clutter about sending some impertinent presidents du parliament to prison
It was then you might have heard a clutter: pots, pans and pitchers, mugs, jugs and jordens, all put themselves in motion at once[…]
1835, William Cobbett, John Morgan Cobbett, James Paul Cobbett, Selections from Cobbett's political works, volume 1, page 33:
- (countable, uncountable) A Sperner family.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| clutters | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
clutterous · clutterless · clutter-free · cluttersome · anticlutter · e-clutter · unclutter · surface clutter · declutter · cyberclutter · bioclutter · cluttery · clutterfree · volume clutter · cluttercore
Synonyms
Translations (48)
hu zűrzavar (a confused disordered jumble of things) · hu visszaverődés (background echos) · pt desordem (a confused disordered jumble of things) · hu összevisszaság (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es revoltura (a confused disordered jumble of things) · pt bagunça (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es revoltijo (a confused disordered jumble of things) · fr encombrement (a confused disordered jumble of things) · nl rommel (a confused disordered jumble of things) · bg врява (a confused disordered jumble of things) · fr bordel (a confused disordered jumble of things) · de Verwirrung (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es revoltillo (a confused disordered jumble of things) · sv röra (a confused disordered jumble of things) · cmn 雜亂 /杂乱 (a confused disordered jumble of things) · fi välke (background echos) · tr dağınıklık (a confused disordered jumble of things) · fi sotku (a confused disordered jumble of things) · tr kargaşalık (a confused disordered jumble of things) · ru кутерьма́ (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es desgarreate (a confused disordered jumble of things) · bg бъркотия (a confused disordered jumble of things) · it confusione (a confused disordered jumble of things) · ru беспоря́док (a confused disordered jumble of things) · de Unordnung (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es chacuatol (a confused disordered jumble of things) · de Durcheinander (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es batiburrillo (a confused disordered jumble of things) · el αταξία (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es reguera (a confused disordered jumble of things) · el σύγχυση (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es atiborramiento (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es enredo (a confused disordered jumble of things) · fr bric-à-brac (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es desbarajuste (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es desgarriate (a confused disordered jumble of things) · ru поме́хи (background echos) · es reguero (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es tótum revolútum (a confused disordered jumble of things) · sv stök (a confused disordered jumble of things) · hu felfordulás (a confused disordered jumble of things) · es zaperoco (a confused disordered jumble of things) · it disordine (a confused disordered jumble of things) · de Wirrwarr (a confused disordered jumble of things) · hu egymás hegyén-hátán (a confused disordered jumble of things) · nl rotzooi (a confused disordered jumble of things) · hu rendetlenség (a confused disordered jumble of things) · it scompiglio (a confused disordered jumble of things)