shipwreck
Americannoun
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the destruction or loss of a ship, as by sinking.
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the remains of a wrecked ship.
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destruction or ruin.
the shipwreck of one's hopes.
verb (used with object)
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to cause to suffer shipwreck.
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to destroy; ruin.
verb (used without object)
noun
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the partial or total destruction of a ship at sea
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a wrecked ship or part of such a ship
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ruin or destruction
the shipwreck of all my hopes
verb
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to wreck or destroy (a ship)
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to bring to ruin or destruction
Etymology
Origin of shipwreck
before 1100; Middle English shipwrech remains of a shipwreck; see ship 1, wreck; replacing Old English scipwræc ( see wrack)
Explanation
A shipwreck is the damaged remains of a large sea-going vessel that washes to shore or sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Historians are interested in old shipwrecks, which reveal details of who was onboard or what was being transported when the ship was badly damaged. You can use the word for the act of the ship's destruction as well as the wreckage left behind: "The shipwreck occurred when the Titanic struck an iceberg." Storms, accidents, war, and sabotage can all lead to shipwrecks. An earlier maritime word with the same meaning was "ship-breaking."
Vocabulary lists containing shipwreck
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In this longer and more structured form, what began as an intentional scattering of ashes becomes an elegiac letter home mediated by shipwreck.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026
The ship would, over time, attain legendary status and prompt the widespread belief, on at least three continents, that it was, as Mr. Sancton writes, “the most valuable shipwreck in history.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 21, 2026
He added that Guinean authorities had helped families of shipwreck victims that they know about, often the few that gain media attention.
From Barron's • Dec. 17, 2025
The only shipwreck of its type known to have survived, the Pin Wreck was discovered 35 years ago.
From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025
“The Raft of the Medusa” portrays victims of a shipwreck, adrift on the sea without food or water, at the moment they signal to a distant ship.
From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
