jetsam

or jet·som

[ jet-suhm ]

noun

1. goods cast overboard deliberately, as to lighten a vessel or improve its stability in an emergency, which sink where jettisoned or are washed ashore.

jetsam

/ ˈdʒɛtsəm /

noun

1. that portion of the equipment or cargo of a vessel thrown overboard to lighten her, as during a storm Compare flotsam lagan
2. another word for flotsam

Word History and Origins

Origin of jetsam¹

1560–70; alteration of jetson, syncopated variant of jettison

Word History and Origins

Origin of jetsam¹

C16: shortened from jettison

Idioms and Phrases

see flotsam and jetsam .

Example Sentences

The cavernous space is mostly filled with chairs, desks, filing cabinets and other bureaucratic jetsam.

From Seattle Times

"It was impossible not to conclude," he later wrote, that for Powell "the struggle was about achieving long-term objectives, not simply a mastery of the flotsam and jetsam of current events".

From BBC

Even though Polk was severely injured, Faulkingham said, he was safe and felt God was watching as flotsam and jetsam from his boat was pushed ashore.

From Seattle Times

Nearly a year and a half after the full-scale Russian invasion, the war remains a supply line of sorts for Reva, a never-ending tide tossing up new flotsam and jetsam.

From Los Angeles Times

But when Mr. Tunnell went to lift it up, the leg turned out to be a prosthetic, one of the many items of flotsam and jetsam that come ashore along the Texas coastline each year.

From New York Times