debriefing

[ dee-bree-fing ]

noun

1. the process or an instance of formally and systematically questioning participants in order to assess the conduct and results of a mission, project, therapeutic process, etc.:

   After the event, a detailed debriefing was conducted to ensure that all possible lessons were learned.

   Empirical studies could evaluate what qualities of therapeutic debriefing most influence patient learning and change.

2. the process or an instance of formally and systematically questioning someone in order to obtain useful intelligence or information:

   Informant debriefings indicated that the primary sources of heroin are New York City–based trafficking organizations.

   Once the tactical debriefing was accomplished, the interrogation crew would determine which prisoners were significant enough to be targeted for high-level interrogation.

3. an instance of information gathering or disclosure:

   Your guide will be able to give you an important safety debriefing and make sure you know what to expect.

4. Psychology. the process or an instance of disclosing information after an experiment in order to inform a subject of the purpose and reasons for any deception or manipulation:

   Another goal of the debriefing is for the researcher to obtain participants' reactions to the study itself.

Word History and Origins

Origin of debriefing¹

debrief ( def ) + -ing ¹( def )

Example Sentences

One part of his experience, though, is your negative “debrief,” which seems to want rethinking.

From Washington Post

“We did our job,” top organizer Ralph Reed said at a debriefing the day after the election.

From The Daily Beast

He gets choked up when the conversation about the airport “debriefing” reaches this point, this heart of the matter.

From The Daily Beast

I had a friend, now dead, who worked for West German intelligence debriefing East Bloc defectors.

From The Daily Beast

I shared a stage with Anita Dunn at a post-election debriefing last December.

From The Daily Beast

I debriefed them like a CIA station chief debriefing captured Russian spies.

From The Daily Beast

Related Words

• interrogate