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debris

or dé·bris

[ duh-bree, dey-bree or, especially British, deb-ree ]
/ dəˈbri, ˈdeɪ bri or, especially British, ˈdɛb ri /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR debris ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the remains of anything broken down or destroyed; ruins; rubble: the debris of buildings after an air raid.
Geology. an accumulation of loose fragments of rock.

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Origin of debris

1700–10; <French débris,Middle French debris, derivative of debriser to break up (in pieces), Old French debrisier (de-de- + brisier to break; see bruise)

Words nearby debris

Debrecen, Debrett, debride, debridement, debrief, debris, debris bug, de Broglie, de Broglie equation, de Broglie wave, de Broglie waves
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to debris

junk, trash, wreck, remains, rubble, rubbish, wreckage, detritus, refuse, crap, garbage, ruins, riffraff, dross, offal, dregs, pieces, fragments, bits

Example sentences from the Web for debris

British Dictionary definitions for debris

debris

dbris

/ (ˈdeɪbrɪ, ˈdɛbrɪ) /

noun

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

Word Origin for debris

C18: from French, from obsolete debrisier to break into pieces, from bruisier to shatter, of Celtic origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012