noun
litter
A bed or stretcher used to carry a person.
The rescuers carry the injured hiker on a litter.
Etymology
The French ancestor names a bed or bedding. The carrying sense specializes that bed-like structure to one on which a person can be transported.
More examples
- Four attendants lifted the ceremonial litter.
- They strapped him securely to the litter.
- The litter was narrow enough for the mountain path.
Forms
litter · litters
Similar words
- stretcher
- Usually a practical casualty-carrying frame.
- palanquin
- A covered conveyance for a seated passenger rather than an emergency stretcher.