jetsam

or jet·som

[ jet-suhm ]
See synonyms for jetsam on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. goods cast overboard deliberately, as to lighten a vessel or improve its stability in an emergency, which sink where jettisoned or are washed ashore.

Origin of jetsam

1
1560–70; alteration of jetson, syncopated variant of jettison

Words that may be confused with jetsam

Words Nearby jetsam

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use jetsam in a sentence

  • 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 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • We were in hopes they would look upon our boat as flotsam and jetsam, of which there was more or less strewn upon the beach.

  • The flotsam and jetsam of too many sentimental stories and fairy tales were afloat in the child's active mind.

    Mildred's Inheritance | Annie Fellows Johnston
  • He gathered it in and swept his tiny flash around in search of other jetsam from his tool kit.

    Tight Squeeze | Dean Charles Ing
  • He might just as well, he might much better, slump down in a sodden heap amid the rest of the jetsam.

  • No, there had been no wreck, yet all about her lay the wave-sodden flotsam and jetsam of many past disasters.

    The Dragon's Secret | Augusta Huiell Seaman

British Dictionary definitions for jetsam

jetsam

jetsom

/ (ˈdʒɛtsəm) /


noun
  1. that portion of the equipment or cargo of a vessel thrown overboard to lighten her, as during a storm: Compare flotsam (def. 1), lagan

  2. another word for flotsam (def. 2)

Origin of jetsam

1
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.