debris

or dé·bris

[ duh-bree, dey-breeor, especially British, deb-ree ]

noun

1. the remains of anything broken down or destroyed; ruins; rubble:

   the debris of buildings after an air raid.

   Synonyms: trash, litter, detritus

2. Geology. an accumulation of loose fragments of rock.

debris

/ ˈdɛbrɪ; ˈdeɪbrɪ /

noun

1. fragments or remnants of something destroyed or broken; rubble
2. a collection of loose material derived from rocks, or an accumulation of animal or vegetable matter

Word History and Origins

Origin of debris¹

First recorded in 1700–10; from French débris, Middle French debris, derivative of debriser “to break up (into pieces),” Old French debrisier, from de- de- + brisier “to break” ( bruise )

Word History and Origins

Origin of debris¹

C18: from French, from obsolete debrisier to break into pieces, from bruisier to shatter, of Celtic origin

Example Sentences

“Even if air defence works well, drone or missile debris falls on the city. It causes fires, damage and unfortunately sometimes victims,” he explained.

From BBC

Police tape continued to surround the market area on Monday, with debris scattered across the road.

From BBC

With the twin tornadoes, there’s this very distinctive red dirt look that we integrated into the debris field at the base of the tornado.

From Los Angeles Times

They scraped through more debris, eventually finding a bathroom sink faucet.

From Los Angeles Times

A recent theory as to why Encke has such a large debris stream is that it was once part of a larger comet that broke up about 20,000 years ago.

From BBC

Related Words

• detritus
• junk
• remains
• rubbish
• rubble
• trash
• wreck
• wreckage