cluttern.
/ˈklʌtə/, U.S. /ˈklədər/ΘΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > state of being thick enough to retain form > [noun] > state of being coagulated > a congealed substance > a congealed mass
cloddera1400
clota1530
cludder1545
clutter1580
congealmenta1616
coagulation1683
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Grumeleux, full of clots or clutters.
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Thrombes de sang, clots or clutters of congealed bloud.
2.
a. A collected mass, a collection; a crowded and confused assemblage.
ΘΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > absence of arrangement > [noun] > a disorderly collection
rabblea1398
hotchpotc1405
hotchpotchc1410
mishmashc1475
gaggle?1478
chaos?1550
humble-jumble1550
huddle1587
wilderness1594
lurry1607
hatterc1626
farragoa1637
bumble1648
higgledy-piggledy1659
jumble1661
clutter1666
hugger-mugger1674
litter1730
imbroglio1753
confusion1791
cludder1801
hurrah's nest1829
hotter1834
welter1857
muddle1863
splatter1895
shamble1926
1666 J. Sergeant Let. of Thanks 125 You huddle together a clutter of Citations.
1670 C. Cotton tr. G. Girard Hist. Life Duke of Espernon iii. xii. 618 Impossible to have found so little a thing, in so great a clutter of thick, and deep Grass.
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 99 The world or whole clutter of bodies.
1789 A. Young Jrnl. 8 July in Trav. France (1792) i. 133 All is a clutter of narrow, crooked, dark, and dirty lanes.
1791 W. Cowper Comm. 's Paradise Lost in Wks. (1837) XV. 304 A clutter of consonants with only a single vowel to assist their utterance.
1891 Harper's Mag. Nov. 881/2 A tiny clutter of frame houses and tents.
1958 Times 4 July 11/4 The home of Everyman will be free from a clutter of sporting equipment and reading matter, tools and toys.
b. Crowded confusion; ‘litter’.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > [noun]
brabbling1530
confusion1530
ruffle1533
pell-mellc1586
confusedness1587
huddle1606
Babel confusion1653
promiscuity1663
hugger-mugger1674
promiscuousness1676
clutter1692
jumblement1706
muddle1808
embranglement1826
mare's nest1837
muddlement1857
muddledom1891
muddliness1891
mêlée1895
mix-up1898
huddledom1923
buggeration1962
mixed-upness1967
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables cxx. 112 He saw what a Clutter there was with Huge, Over-grown Pots.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Clutter, confusion, disorder. In our use of the word, there is no idea of ‘noise, clamour or bustle’... ‘The room is in a clutter’, if the tables and chairs stand in disorder.
a1864 N. Hawthorne Dr. Grimshawe 292 The musty and dusty clutter and litter of things gone by.
1884 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 31 Dec. 4/2 To-day all the clutter of the aisles was removed and the fair presented..a more regular and orderly arrangement of exhibits.
1959 Daily Tel. 10 Mar. 16/4 Mr. Brooke..said in London yesterday that Britain had ‘got to get rid of the clutter’ of advertisements on shops and elsewhere.
1959 Daily Tel. 10 Mar. 16/4 By one method or another I intend to get rid of clutter, for I am sure it does no good to anyone.
c. Unwanted images on a radar screen.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > radio communications > radio equipment > [noun] > radar apparatus > marks or signals on radar screen
range mark1942
ghost1943
pip1944
range marker1944
blip1945
clutter1945
sea return1945
sea clutter1946
angel1947
1945 Army & Navy Jrnl. (U.S.) 18 Aug. 1534.
1946 Electronic Engin. 18 267 Sea clutter, caused by echoes from the tips of waves and broken water.
1948 Electronic Engin. 20 336 The important subject of unwanted echoes (‘clutter’).
1967 Electronics 6 Mar. 52/2 Blind spots caused when the transmitter pulse or clutter obliterates the target return pulse.
3. The crowded confusion of movement and business; turmoil, bustle, stir. Also in in a clutter. archaic or dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > manner of action > vigour or energy > [noun] > briskness or activeness > bustle or fuss
to-doc1330
adoc1380
great (also much) cry and little woolc1460
feery-fary1535
fray1568
stirc1595
do1598
coil1599
hurl1603
ruffle1609
clutterment1611
buzz1628
bustle1637
paddle1642
racket1644
clutter1652
tracas1656
tracasserie1656
circumference1667
flutter1667
hurly-burly1678
fuss1701
fissle1719
fraise1725
hurry-scurry1753
fix-fax1768
fal-lal1775
widdle1789
touse1792
fuffle1801
going-on1817
hurry and scurry1823
sputter1823
tew1825
Bob's-a-dying1829
fidge1832
tamasha1842
mulling1845
mussing1846
fettling1847
fooster1847
trade1854
scrimmage1855
carry-on1861
fuss-and-feathers1866
on-carry1870
make-a-do1880
miration1883
razzle-dazzle1885
song and dance1885
to get a rustle on1891
tea-party1903
stirabout1905
whoop-de-do1910
chichi1928
production1941
go-go1966
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > in confusion or disorder [phrase]
out of (also from, off) (one's) bias1590
all over the place1719
all over the shop1866
all over the show1888
in a clutter1890
1652 I. Ambrose Media (ed. 2) v. 104 What a clutter of businesses crossing one the other?
1704 J. Swift Tale of Tub iv. 111 In the midst of all this Clutter and Revolution, in comes Peter.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 227 By the Hurry and Clutter they were in, to get all ready for a Fight.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) i. ii. ⁋135 105 What Clutter there was in Town about getting off.
1768 E. Buys New & Compl. Dict. Terms Art I A Clutter, a Bustle or Stir.
1890 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 148 463/2 Up spring the partridges;..all in a clutter they are, one over the other.
4. Noisy turmoil or disturbance, hubbub. (Cf. clatter n.1) archaic or dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > loudness > confused sound > [noun] > uproar or tumult
brack?c1200
ludea1275
ludingc1275
grede13..
to-doc1330
stevenc1385
ruitc1390
shoutingc1405
rumourc1425
dirdumc1440
shout1487
rippit?1507
glamer?a1513
rangat?a1513
reird?a1513
larumc1515
reirdour1535
uproar1544
clamouring1548
racket1565
baldare1582
rack jack1582
rufflery1582
pother1603
rut1607
clamorousnessa1617
hurricane1639
clutter1656
flaw1676
splutter1677
rout1684
hirdum-dirdum1724
fracas1727
collieshangie1737
racketing1760
hullabaloo1762
hurly1806
bobbery1816
trevally1819
pandemonium1827
hurly-burly1830
outroar1845
on-ding1871
tow-row1877
ruckus1885
molrowing1892
rookus1892
rux1918
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > commotion, disturbance, or disorder > [noun] > (a) noisy
rippit?1507
hubbleshowa1525
burlinga1533
hubble-shubblec1550
burle1563
coil1567
hirdy-girdy1568
riff-raff1582
rut1607
hubbuba1625
clutter1656
sputter1673
splutter1677
rattle1688
rumpus1745
ree-raw1797
bobbery1816
trevally1819
stramash1821
nitty1822
hell's delight1823
pandemonium1827
oration1828
Bob's-a-dying1829
hubbaboo1830
reerie1832
circus1869
tow-row1877
ruaille buaille1885
brouhaha1890
foofaraw1933
bangarang1943
bassa-bassa1956
1656 W. Coles Art of Simpling 8 What those things were which..Leah and Rachel kept such a clutter about.
1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica 348 All the clutter will be hush'd.
1727 J. Swift Let. to very Young Lady in Misc. II. 323 Those Ladies, who are apt to make the greatest clutter on such occasions.
1778 Camp Guide 14 That for mere religion, there should be such a clutter.
1823 W. Scott Peveril III. xii. 302 The dwarf..making a most important clutter as he extinguished their fire.
5. A noise consisting of the disorderly mixture of many rapid and more or less simultaneous sounds; mingled rattle. (Cf. clatter n.1) archaic or dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > loudness > confused sound > [noun]
noise?a1400
clattera1500
Babela1529
burlinga1533
burle1563
tintamarre1567
coil1582
flipper-de-flapper1640
clutter1655
Babel sound1710
jargon1711
charivari1735
oratorio?1737
hubbub1779
callithump1843
1655 T. Bayly Life J. Fisher xiv. 102 A Cannon bullet..made such a horrible noyse and clutter, as it went thorough.
1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. ii. 39 The clutter of thir Horse, and of thir Wheels.
1702 J. Vanbrugh False Friend v. i I heard such a clutter of small shot—‘Murder! murder! murder! rape! fire!’
a1748 I. Watts Disc. Educ. Children ii Let [children] be instructed not to speak in a swift hurry, with a tumult of syllables and clutter upon their lips.
1841 L. Hunt Seer (1864) 41 Now and then comes a clutter of drops against the glass, made by a gust of wind.
Compounds
clutter-clutter n. continuous or repeated noise or clatter.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > clattering
clatteringc1400
clitter-clatter1535
clatter1578
reesle1608
slattering1661
clutter-clutter1691
cluttering1844
strepitation1913
1691 Hist. Relat. Gen. Assembly Edinb. 49 A Clutter Clutter of words and canting phrases which cannot be understood.
clutterdepouch n. an obsolete dance.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > dancing > types of dance or dancing > other dances > [noun]
dance of Macabre?c1430
springc1450
lege de moya1529
bobc1550
lusty gallant1569
duret1613
fading1613
huckler1617
ground-measure1621
entry1631
slatter de pouchc1640
ballo1651
Irish trot1651
omnium gatheruma1652
clutterdepouch1652
upspring1654
passacaglia1659
shuffle1659
passacaille1667
flip-flap1676
chaconne1685
charmer1702
Cheshire-round1706
Louvre1729
stick dance1730
white joke1730
baby dance1744
Nancy Dawson1766
fricassee1775
bumpkin1785
Totentanz1789
Flora('s) dance1790
goombay1790
egg-dance1801
supper dance1820
Congo dance1823
slip-jig1829
bran-dance1833
roly-poly1833
Congo1835
mazy1841
furry1848
bull-dance1855
stampede1856
double-shuffling1859
frog dance1863
hokee-pokee1873
plait dance1876
slow dancing1884
snake dance1895
beast dance1900
soft-shoe1900
cakewalk1902
floral dance1911
snake dance1911
apache dance1912
grizzly bear1912
jazz dance1917
jazz dancing1917
jazz1919
wine-dance1920
camel-walk1921
furry dance1928
snake-dance1931
pas d'action1936
trance dancing1956
touch dance1965
hokey-cokey1966
moonwalk1969
moonwalking1983
Crip Walk1989
mapantsula1990
1652 R. Brome Joviall Crew ii. sig. D2v Daunce clutterdepouch; and Hannykin booby.
clutter-fisted adj. ? clumsy-handed: cf. cluster-fisted adj. at clusterfist n. Derivatives.
Π
1608 R. Armin Nest of Ninnies sig. D2 Clutter fisted long of arme, Bodie straight and slenderd.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
clutterv.
ΘΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > other specific kinds of texture > [verb (intransitive)] > form lumps
clotterc1405
clodder1499
clod1530
clot1530
cluster1561
clunter1587
clutter1601
coagulate1669
lump1722
coalesce1759
the world > matter > constitution of matter > density or solidity > state of being thick enough to retain form > give consistency to [verb (transitive)] > coagulate
thickc1000
runlOE
quaila1398
congealc1400
curd?a1425
thickenc1425
coagulec1550
clumper1562
curdle1585
clutter1601
quarl1607
coagulate1611
posseta1616
sam1615
concrete1635
earn1670
clotter1700
cotter1781
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. xii. xvii It battereth and cluttereth into knots and balls.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. xxv. xiii. 236 That which is pressed out of the seed..killith them..by congealing and cluttering their bloud.
1633 D. Rogers Treat. Two Sacraments Gospell ii. 129 Their sinne..lies cluttered in their soules.
1676 True Gentlewoman's Delight To make cream clutter.
2. To run together or collect in knots or heaps; to crowd together. (Quot. 1598 connects with 3.)
ΘΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (intransitive)] > cluster
plump1530
cluster1541
clutter1556
constell1602
constellate1647
bunch1873
1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie li. 6 The spiders, togither clustring and cluttring.
1598 R. Grenewey tr. Tacitus Annales xi. x. 152 All the rest came cluttering about [L. circumstrepunt] him, crying that he should haste away to the camp.
1610 S. Rid Martin Mark-all 45 To whom..masterlesse men after they heard of his fame, came cluttering on heapes.
a1734 R. North Examen (1740) iii. vii. ⁋88 Villainy..clutters together in Heaps, and where you find one, all the rest are not far.
3. To run in crowded and bustling disorder.
ΘΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > going swiftly on foot > go swiftly on foot [verb (intransitive)] > run > in crowded and bustling disorder
clutter1602
1602 Hist. Eng. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 455 The middle of the field was filled with chariots, and horsemen, cluttering and running round about.
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 207 The Coaches, Horsemen, and Croud..cluttered away, to be out of Harm's way.
1760 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy I. i. 3 Away they go cluttering like hey-go-mad.
1840 W. S. Landor Imaginary Conversat. in Heath's Bk. Beauty 56 They clutter and run and rise and escape from him.
4. To run or move with noise of bustle and confusion; to make a confused noise or clatter.
ΘΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > loudness > confused sound > [verb (intransitive)]
clutter1693
1693 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis (new ed.) 342 To clutter or clatter.
1768 E. Buys New & Compl. Dict. Terms Art I To Clutter, to make a noise or hurly burly.
1808 J. Mayne Siller Gun (new ed.) iv. 92 The coffee-cups began to clutter.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Goose vii, in Poems (new ed.) I. 231 It clutter'd here, it chuckled there.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > gather together [verb (transitive)] > crowd together > in a disorderly manner
hoderc1330
clotter1537
pester1570
huddle1579
huddle1600
clutterc1610
lumber1678
c1610 F. Bacon Let. in Wks. (1868) XI. 219 Which doth not clutter together praises.
1685 C. Cotton tr. M. de Montaigne Ess. III. 190 We cannot make ourselves sure of the Supream Cause, and therefore clutter a great many together, to see if it may not accidentally be among them.
?1748 ‘T. Bobbin’ View Lancs. Dial. (ed. 2) 27 Awth' Twean wur cluttert obeawt us.
6. To crowd (a place or space) with a disorderly assemblage of things. Usually in passive. Frequently const. up.
ΘΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > confusion or disorder > untidiness > make untidy [verb (transitive)] > clutter or litter
clutter1674
litter1726
1674 N. Fairfax Treat. Bulk & Selvedge 127 [Lest] any stragling bodies clutter up its rooms and stifle it.
1685 Visit. Archdeaconry Ely in Cambr. Antiq. Communic. III. 346 The Chancell soe clutterd up wth a great Monumt that it leaves noe Room for ye Comunion Table.
1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 99 An unwieldy and overgrown establishment, cluttered with furniture.
1874 Sussex Gloss. To clutter up, to throw into confusion: to crowd.
1885 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 8 Jan. 1/6 At present the sides of the highways..are cluttered with these pipes.
1908 Daily Chron. 25 Feb. 4/4 The floor also was cluttered with papers and books of every kind.
1910 Westm. Gaz. 6 Apr. 2/1 The Second Chamber is now cluttered up with a brute mass of undistinguished bipeds.
1914 H. H. Fyfe Real Mexico 92 The lines here are all cluttered up with troop-trains.
1923 Times Lit. Suppl. 18 Jan. 36/2 The book is cluttered up with details of the number of troops present and tables of the exceedingly minute casualties.
1966 Oxf. Univ. Gaz. 23 Dec. 434/1 We do not want to clutter up Congregation with a large number of trivial details.
7. To throw into mental confusion and disorder. Now dialect and U.S.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > perplexity, bewilderment > act of perplexing > confuse, perplex, bewilder [verb (transitive)]
abobc1330
confusec1350
confoundc1374
cumbera1375
passc1384
maskerc1400
mopc1425
enose1430
manga1450
overmusec1460
perplex1477
maze1482
enmuse1502
ruffle?a1505
unsteady1532
entangle1540
duddle1548
intricate1548
distraught1579
distract1582
mizzle1583
moider1587
amuse1595
mist1598
bepuzzle1599
gravel1601
plunder1601
puzzle1603
intrigue1612
vexa1613
metagrobolize?a1616
befumea1618
fuddle1617
crucify1621
bumfiddlea1625
implicate1625
giddify1628
wilder1642
buzzlea1644
empuzzle1646
dunce1649
addle1652
meander1652
emberlucock1653
flounder1654
study1654
disorient1655
embarrass?1656
essome1660
embrangle1664
jumble1668
dunt1672
muse1673
clutter1685
emblustricate1693
fluster1720
disorientate1728
obfuscate1729
fickle1736
flustrate1797
unharmonize1797
mystify1806
maffle1811
boggle1835
unballast1836
stomber1841
throw1844
serpentine1850
unbalance1856
tickle1865
fog1872
bumfuzzle1878
wander1897
to put off1909
defeat1914
dither1919
befuddle1926
ungear1931
to screw up1941
1685 Trial Lady A. Lisle in State Trials XI. 297 Witness. My lord, I am so baulked I do not know what I say myself—Tell me what you would have me to say, for I am cluttered out of my senses.
1888 Detroit Free Press I've seed strange things in my time, but this clutters me!
8. To utter words confusedly and hurriedly: often, as a habitual defect of utterance; cf. clutterer n.
ΘΠ
the mind > language > speech > defective or inarticulate speech > speak inarticulately or with a defect [verb (intransitive)]
misspeakc1225
faltera1533
clutter1654
1654 J. Trapp Comm. Job i. 19 This messenger cluttereth out all at once.
a1658 R. Lovelace Lucasta: Posthume Poems (1659) 73 All that they Bluster'd, and clutter'd for, you play.
1813 W. Taylor Eng. Synonyms 254 What is spoken with syllabic distinctness is articulated, and not cluttered.
1878 tr. H. W. von Ziemssen et al. Cycl. Pract. Med. XIV. 817 A young preacher who cluttered very badly.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1891; most recently modified version published online June 2020).
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n.1580v.1556