English Explanatory Dictionary

debris

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.
  2. Litter and discarded refuse.
  3. Large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.

Pronunciation

/ˈdɛbɹi/ /ˈdeɪbɹi/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-debris.wav /dəˈbɹiː/ en-us-debris.ogg

Word forms

debris débris

Etymology

Borrowed from French débris, itself from dé- (“de-”) + bris (“broken, crumbled”), or from Middle French debriser (“to break apart”), from Old French debrisier, itself from de- + brisier (“to break apart, shatter, bust”), from Frankish *bristijan, *bristan, *brestan (“to break violently, shatter, bust”), from Proto-Germanic *brestaną (“to break, burst”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrest- (“to separate, burst”). Cognate with Old High German bristan (“to break asunder, burst”), Old English berstan (“to break, shatter, burst”), German bersten (“to burst”). More at burst.

Synonyms

debris detritus remains ruins rubbish rubble wreckage cultch crap dreck drek garbage gash junk litter pelf piece of crap piece of garbage piece of shit pile of crap pile of shit piece of trash refuse roughage service item shit stuff trash waste

Related words

broken trash

Derived words

biodebris cellular debris debris basin debris field debris mortar debris response area debrite palynodebris space debris
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