detritus

American  

[dih-trahy-tuhs] / dɪˈtraɪ təs /

noun

1. rock in small particles or other material worn or broken away from a mass, as by the action of water or glacial ice.

2. any disintegrated material; debris.

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detritus British  

/ dɪˈtraɪtəs /

noun

1. a loose mass of stones, silt, etc, worn away from rocks

2. an accumulation of disintegrated material or debris

3. the organic debris formed from the decay of organisms

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detritus Scientific  

/ dĭ-trī′təs /

1. Loose fragments, such as sand or gravel, that have been worn away from rock.

2. Matter produced by the decay or disintegration of an organic substance.

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Other Word Forms

• detrital adjective

Etymology

Origin of detritus

1785–95; < French détritus < Latin: a rubbing away, equivalent to dētrī-, variant stem of dēterere to wear down, rub off ( de- de- + terere to rub) + -tus suffix of v. action

Example Sentences

He worries that even more detritus will wash up on the beach in the future.

From BBC

Dotting the shoreline is a bleak expanse of detritus: timeworn pumps, tottering derricks, wayward cranes and aging pipelines.

From Los Angeles Times

Images of cats painting, celebrities in compromising situations, and cartoon characters endorsing products are among the AI-generated detritus proliferating on social networks and video-sharing platforms.

From Barron's

A city cleaning crew stages occasional sweeps to collect and throw away the detritus.

From The Wall Street Journal

In these photos, we find artifacts of childhood mixed with the detritus of adolescence.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• rubble