flotsam

American  

[flot-suhm] / ˈflɒt səm /

noun

1. the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water.

2. material or refuse floating on water.

3. useless or unimportant items; odds and ends.

4. a vagrant, penniless population.

   the flotsam of the city slums in medieval Europe.

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flotsam British  

/ ˈflɒtsəm /

noun

1. wreckage from a ship found floating Compare jetsam lagan

2. useless or discarded objects; odds and ends (esp in the phrase flotsam and jetsam )

3. vagrants

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Etymology

Origin of flotsam

1600–10; < Anglo-French floteson, derivative of floter to float < Old English flotian

Example Sentences

It was enough to make a person feel no more than a speck, a scrap of flotsam or jetsam tossing in the waves, to be cast willy-nilly into such an unimaginable expanse.

From Literature

While the garden is rooted in local culture, built bit by bit from the flotsam and jetsam of Los Angeles locations and plants native to the ecology, the programming is more global in approach.

From Los Angeles Times

"It was impossible not to conclude," he later wrote, that for Powell "the struggle was about achieving long-term objectives, not simply a mastery of the flotsam and jetsam of current events".

From BBC

Even though Polk was severely injured, Faulkingham said, he was safe and felt God was watching as flotsam and jetsam from his boat was pushed ashore.

From Seattle Times

Nearly a year and a half after the full-scale Russian invasion, the war remains a supply line of sorts for Reva, a never-ending tide tossing up new flotsam and jetsam.

From Los Angeles Times