[This and the vb. of same form appear to have arisen late in the 16th c. and to have become suddenly very common, after which they went to a great extent out of literary use, though retained in some senses dialectally, and in U. S.
In sense 1 the word was evidently a phonetic variant of CLOTTER, from CLOT (which had occas. the form clut). Afterwards, influenced perh. by association with cluster, it was taken to mean ‘an assemblage, crowd, medley’; and still later, perh. by association with clatter, the notion of noise entered in, so as to give the sense of mingled and confused noise (cf. EFris. klōter a rattle, klōtern to rattle).]
† 1. A clotted mass; coagulation; = CLOTTER, CLODDER, CLUDDER. Obs.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Grumeleux, full of clots or clutters.
1611. Cotgr., Thrombes de sang, clots or clutters of congealed bloud.
2. A collected mass, a collection; a crowded and confused assemblage.
1666. J. Sergeant, Letter of Thanks, 125. You huddle together a clutter of Citations.
1670. Cotton, 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, Bulk & Selv., 99. The world or whole clutter of bodies.
1791. Cowper, Comm. Milton, Wks. 1837, XV. 304. A clutter of consonants with only a single vowel to assist their utterance.
1792. A. Young, Trav. France, 133. All is a clutter of narrow, crooked, dark, and dirty lanes.
b. Crowded confusion; ‘litter.’ Now dial. and U.S.
1694. R. L’Estrange, Fables, cxx. (1714), 137. He saw what a Clutter there was with huge, over-grown Pots, Pans, and Spits, away he scowr’d immediately.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, 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.
a. 1864. Hawthorne, Dr. Grimshawe’s Secret, 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.
3. The crowded confusion of movement and business; turmoil, bustle, stir, arch. or dial.
1649. Ambrose, Media, v. (1652), 104. What vexations? What a clutter of businesses crossing one the other?
1704. Swift, T. Tub, iv. (1709), 73. In the midst of all this clutter and revolution in comes Peter.
1723. De Foe, Col. Jack (1840), 192. By the hurry and clutter they were in to get all ready for a fight.
a. 1734. North, Exam., I. ii. ¶ 135 (1740), 105. What Clutter there was in Town about getting off.
1768. E. Buys, Dict. Terms Art, A Clutter, a Bustle or Stir.
4. Noisy turmoil or disturbance, hubbub. (Cf. CLATTER.) arch. or dial.
1656. W. Coles, Art of Simpling, 8. What those things were which … Leah and Rachel kept such a clutter about.
1669. W. Simpson, Hydrol. Chym., 348. All the clutter will be hush’d into a silent calmness.
1727. Swift, To Very Young Lady. Those ladies, who are apt to make the greatest clutter on such occasions.
1778. Camp Guide, 14.
| Our chaplains quite grumble, nay openly mutter, | |
| That for mere religion, there should be such a clutter! |
1823. Scott, Peveril, xxxv. 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.) arch. or dial.
1655. T. Bayly, Bp. Fisher, xiv. 102. A Cannon bullet … made such a horrible noyse and clutter, as it went thorough.
1670. Milton, Hist. Eng., II. Wks. 1738, II. 16. The clutter of their Horse, and of their Wheels.
1702. Vanbrugh, False Friend, V. i. I heard such a clutter of small shot—‘Murder! murder! murder! rape! fire!’
a. 1748. Watts, Disc. Educ., 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.
6. Comb., clutter-clutter, continuous or repeated noise or clatter; clutterdepouch, an obsolete dance; clutter-fisted a., ? clumsy-handed: cf. CLUSTER-FISTED.
1608. Armin, Nest Ninn. (1842), 27. Clutter fisted, long of arme, Bodied straight and slender’d.
1641. Brome, Joviall Crew, II. Wks. 1873, III. 371. Daunce Clutterdepouch; and Hannykin booby.
1691. Hist. Relat. Gen. Assembly Edin., 49. A Clutter Clutter of words and canting phrases which cannot be understood.
