wreckage

[ rek-ij ]

/ ˈrɛk ɪdʒ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR wreckage ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

act of wrecking; state of being wrecked.

remains or fragments of something that has been wrecked: They searched the wreckage for survivors.

Nearby words

Origin of wreckage

First recorded in 1830–40; wreck + -age

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

Examples from the Web for wreckage

The wreckage lies no more than around 100 feet down in the Java Sea.
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?|Clive Irving|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Search teams find dozens of people and jet debris floating in the Java Sea, as the airline confirms the wreckage is from QZ8501.
Wreckage, Bodies of AirAsia Crash Found|Lennox Samuels|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The wreckage of the Airbus A320 has been located in relatively shallow water.
Who Will Get AsiaAir 8501’s Black Boxes?|Clive Irving|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Pakistani troops even fought off militants attempting to reach the wreckage of drones that had crashed.
Obama’s Deadly Informants: The Drone Spotters of Pakistan|Umar Farooq, Syed Fakhar Kakakhel|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST

But what actually determines the amount of wreckage left floating on the surface?
MH370 Debris Is Lost Forever, Can the Plane Be Found Without It?|Clive Irving|September 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The minute he saw the wreckage an inspiration jumped into his head.
Everyman's Land|C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson
Under one pile of wreckage Tuesday afternoon twenty bodies were taken out and cremated.
The Complete Story of the Galveston Horror|Various
Under a mass of wreckage on the floor lay George Walden, senseless, and with the blood flowing from a wound in his temple.
Young Captain Jack|Horatio Alger and Arthur M. Winfield
The common right to wreckage was no doubt the origin of the prerogative right to the former.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3|Various
A woman was now in charge, and she was just finishing the cleaning away of the wreckage.
The Rover Boys in the Land of Luck|Edward Stratemeyer

British Dictionary definitions for wreckage

wreckage

/ (ˈrɛkɪdʒ) /

noun

same as wreck (def. 6)

the act of wrecking or the state of being wrecked; ruin or destruction

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

Word Origin and History for wreckage