ENGLISH DICTIONARY

Debris

Definition, Meaning & Examples

Pronunciation /ˈdɛbɹi/ · Part of speech noun

Quick meaning: Debris is a noun meaning Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.

Meaning

Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.

More Meanings

  1. Litter and discarded refuse.
  2. (geology) Large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.

Example Sentences

His neighbors were still ripping out debris. But Mr. Ryan, a retired bricklayer who built his house by hand 30 years ago only to lose most of it to Hurricane Sandy, was already hard at work rebuilding.
[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].
But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they should have been dropped from. The station was instantly reduced to bits of debris, and the line to a huge crater.

Synonyms for debris

Depending on context, synonyms include detritus, remains, ruins, rubbish, rubble, wreckage.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include rubble, junk, dust, detritus, scrap, garbage.

Related Dictionary Tools

Sources & Attribution

FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0

Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.