jetsam

or jet·som

[ jet-suh m ]

/ ˈdʒɛt səm /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR jetsam ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Nearby words

jetfoil, jethro, jetliner, jetpack, jetport, jetsam, jettison, jetton, jetty, jetway, jeté

Compare flotsam, lagan.

Origin of jetsam

1560–70; alteration of jetson, syncopated variant of jettison

Can be confused

flotsam jetsam

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for jetsam

After being rescued from the ocean several times Buster spent the rest of the afternoon collecting flotsam and jetsam.
Why I Hate The Beach|P. J. O’Rourke|July 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It is but a waif on the ocean of commerce—the jetsam and flotsam, of which the law must direct the disposal.
The Arena|Various
Those boys may be flotsam and jetsam and all that, but they know more about patriotism than I do.
Eve to the Rescue|Ethel Hueston
The second signature was still more a matter of form, Mr. Winter merely sending the paper to Mr. Jetsam, with his compliments.
Trevethlan: Volume 1|William Davy Watson

Jetsam, part of the cargo of a ship thrown overboard to lighten her in a case of peril.
The Nuttall Encyclopaedia|Edited by Rev. James Wood
This heterogeneous flotsam and jetsam held some of the material from which Montana evolved its later statehood.
A Man of Two Countries|Alice Harriman

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

Idioms and Phrases with jetsam

jetsam

see flotsam and jetsam.