CLUTTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does clutter mean? 

• CLUTTER (noun)
  The noun CLUTTER has 2 senses:

1. a confused multitude of things

2. unwanted echoes that interfere with the observation of signals on a radar screen

  Familiarity information: CLUTTER used as a noun is rare.

• CLUTTER (verb)
  The verb CLUTTER has 1 sense:

1. fill a space in a disorderly way

  Familiarity information: CLUTTER used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLUTTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A confused multitude of things

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

clutter; fuddle; jumble; mare's nest; muddle; smother; welter

Hypernyms ("clutter" is a kind of...):

disorder; disorderliness (a condition in which things are not in their expected places)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "clutter"):

rummage (a jumble of things to be given away)

Derivation:

clutter (fill a space in a disorderly way)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Unwanted echoes that interfere with the observation of signals on a radar screen

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("clutter" is a kind of...):

radar echo (an electronic signal that has been reflected back to the radar antenna; contains information about the location and distance of the reflecting object)

disturbance; interference; noise (electrical or acoustic activity that can disturb communication)

• CLUTTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they clutter    ... he / she / it clutters   
Past simple: cluttered   
Past participle: cluttered   
-ing form: cluttering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fill a space in a disorderly way

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

clutter; clutter up

Hypernyms (to "clutter" is one way to...):

fill; fill up; make full (make full, also in a metaphorical sense)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something with something

Antonym:

unclutter (rid of obstructions)

Derivation:

clutter (a confused multitude of things)

 Context examples 

Reduce clutter in your home so they have fewer places to hide.

(Bedbugs, Environmental Protection Agency)

Martin's first impression was of the disorder and cluttered confusion of the room.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

However, the wet and fractured ice along the southern coastline cluttered the radar soundings so that large swaths of the bed remained invisible.

(Hidden Greenland canyons mean more sea level rise, NASA)

You don’t need to move to make changes, you could instead make repairs, de-clutter, paint a room or two, decorate with new furniture or a rug, or buy new dishes and other attractive accessories for entertaining.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

She learned to look upon danger clear-eyed and with understanding, losing forever that panic fear which is bred of ignorance and which afflicts the city-reared, making them as silly as silly horses, so that they await fate in frozen horror instead of grappling with it, or stampede in blind self-destroying terror which clutters the way with their crushed carcasses.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

In some way the magnificent offers certain magazines had made him leaked out, and Oakland ministers called upon him in a friendly way, while professional begging letters began to clutter his mail.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)