jetsam

American  

[jet-suhm] / ˈdʒɛt səm /

Or jetsom

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.

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jetsam British  

/ ˈdʒɛtsəm /

noun

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

2. another word for flotsam

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jetsam Idioms  

1. see flotsam and jetsam.

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Etymology

Origin of jetsam

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

Example Sentences

When this extraterrestrial jetsam occasionally plunges through the atmosphere, it poses a risk to life, infrastructure and the environment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

"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 • Apr. 24, 2024

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 • Aug. 17, 2023

Slowly, to the sound of gently undulating waves, the bodies begin to roll from side to side, like jetsam washing onshore.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 23, 2023

Already men were labouring to clear a way through the jetsam of battle; and now out from the Gate came some bearing litters.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien