# debris

Pronunciation: US/AUS say "duh-BREE" /dəˈbɹiː/; UK say "DEB-ree" /ˈdɛbɹi/

## Noun

1. Rubble, wreckage, and scattered remains left behind when something is destroyed.
   - Simple: Broken pieces left after something is smashed, blown up, or wrecked.
   - _Rescue workers searched the debris for survivors after the explosion._
   - _Tornado debris covered the entire neighborhood for blocks._
2. Litter and discarded waste left scattered around a place.
   - Simple: Trash and garbage that people leave lying around.
   - _Volunteers collected bags of debris along the beach._
   - _Plastic debris floated in the harbor near the docks._
3. The ruined remains of a structure that has broken down or collapsed.
   - Simple: What is left of a building that has fallen apart.
   - _The old factory was reduced to debris over the decades._
   - _Archaeologists sifted through the debris of the ancient temple._
4. Large rock fragments left behind by a melting glacier.
   - Simple: Big pieces of broken rock left behind when a glacier melts.
   - _Geologists mapped the debris deposited by the retreating glacier._
   - _Boulders and gravel form the debris strewn across the moraine._

## Origin

Debris was borrowed from French débris, from dé- plus bris ('broken, crumbled'), or from Middle French debriser ('to break apart'). This traces back through Old French to Frankish and Proto-Germanic roots meaning 'to break violently, shatter', and is related to English 'burst'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/debris (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).