debris

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Scattered broken pieces left after something is destroyed or breaks apart.

   Rescue workers searched through the debris of the collapsed building.

2. 2
   noun

   Rubbish or litter scattered around, especially in nature.

   The beach was covered with plastic debris washed up by the tide.

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.

Topics