debark

¹ American  

[dih-bahrk] / dɪˈbɑrk /

verb (used with or without object)

1. to disembark.

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debark ² American  

[dee-bahrk] / diˈbɑrk /

verb (used with object)

1. to remove the bark from (a log).

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debark ¹ British  

/ ˌdiːbɑːˈkeɪʃən, dɪˈbɑːk /

verb

1. a less common word for disembark

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debark ² British  

/ diːˈbɑːk /

verb

1. (tr) to remove the bark from (a tree)

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Other Word Forms

• debarkation
  noun
• debarker
  noun

Etymology

Origin of debark¹

1645–55; < French débarquer, equivalent to dé- dis- ¹ + barque bark ³ + -er infinitive suffix

Origin of debark²

First recorded in 1735–45; de- + bark ²

Explanation

When you get off a ship and go on land, you debark. The passengers on the Titanic were hoping to debark in New York. If you've ever spent a long stretch out at sea, you know the feeling when you debark and feel wobbly on your feet as you wait to get your land legs. You can also use this verb for getting off a plane or a spacecraft: "When the astronauts debark, they'll be greeted by fans." Debark, from the French débarquer, is a synonym for the longer disembark.

Example Sentences

Not without making first a circuit wide,   We came unto a place where loud the pilot   Cried out to us, "Debark, here is the entrance."

From Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Complete by Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth

Debark, de-b�rk′, v.t. or v.i. to land from a ship or boat: to disembark.—ns.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various