debrief
verb (used with object)
to interrogate (a soldier, astronaut, diplomat, etc.) on return from a mission in order to assess the conduct and results of the mission.
was debriefing
-
past progressiveof debrief.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
“It wasn’t until after the concert, where I was debriefing with my friends and I said, ‘Let’s review the footage, let’s see if it really looks that bad.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2025
And when I arrived at the W, Perabo was debriefing with Mónica Ramírez, the gender justice campaigns director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
From Slate ● Aug. 28, 2019
One woman, wearing a sweatshirt with her name bedazzled on it, was debriefing her group on all they’d seen.
From New York Times ● Aug. 6, 2015
Like I always did, I pretended she was debriefing me on the loose ends accumulated since the last back-up, and not reminding me, again, in every possible way, of what she'd lost.
From Nature ● Mar. 20, 2013
Disinclined to believe him, the CIA drew up 44 questions that it wanted the FBI, which was debriefing Nosenko, to ask him.
From Time Magazine Archive
