driftwood

[ drift-wood ]
See synonyms for driftwood on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. wood floating on a body of water or cast ashore by it.

  2. such wood adapted for use in interior decoration.

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or made of driftwood: a driftwood lamp.

Origin of driftwood

1
First recorded in 1605–15; drift + wood1

Words Nearby driftwood

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use driftwood in a sentence

  • “Trickle-down government” is just another piece of American political driftwood to wash ashore this year.

    The Independent Rundown, October 17 | Matthew DeLuca | October 17, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • The only training BP has provided for the public is to teach us how to safely pick up trash and driftwood from our own beaches.

    Voices From the Gulf | The Daily Beast | May 3, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • They are votaries of the weed, making their pipes either out of driftwood, or of the bones of animals they have used for food.

  • We were mere atoms in a vast wave of horn and bone and flesh that bore us onward as the tide floats driftwood.

    Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • He felt as Columbus felt when he saw the land bird alighting upon his ship and the driftwood floating by.

  • Walking, half awake, Ida floundered among the boulders and through a horrible maze of whitened driftwood cast up by the stream.

    The Gold Trail | Harold Bindloss
  • A huge pile of driftwood was brought up from the shore and heaped on the fire by the ledge.

    The Rival Campers | Ruel Perley Smith

British Dictionary definitions for driftwood

driftwood

/ (ˈdrɪftˌwʊd) /


noun
  1. wood floating on or washed ashore by the sea or other body of water

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