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jetsam
or jet·som
[ jet-suhm ]
/ ˈdʒɛt səm /
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noun
goods cast overboard deliberately, as to lighten a vessel or improve its stability in an emergency, which sink where jettisoned or are washed ashore.
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Origin of jetsam
1560–70; alteration of jetson, syncopated variant of jettison
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH jetsam
flotsam, jetsamWords nearby jetsam
jet pipe, jet plane, jetport, jet-propelled, jet propulsion, jetsam, jet set, Jet Ski, jet stream, jettison, jet-to-let
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use jetsam in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for jetsam
jetsam
jetsom
/ (ˈdʒɛtsəm) /
noun
that portion of the equipment or cargo of a vessel thrown overboard to lighten her, as during a stormCompare flotsam (def. 1), lagan
another word for flotsam (def. 2)
Word Origin for jetsam
C16: shortened from jettison
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with jetsam
jetsam
see flotsam and jetsam.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.