Definition of DEBRIS

debris

Noun

  • the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up
  • Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.
  • Litter and discarded refuse.
  • The ruins of a broken-down structure.
  • Large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.
  • pl. DEBRIS fragments or scattered remains

Origin / 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

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

Scrabble Score: 9

debris: valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
debris: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
debris: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

debris is a valid Words With Friends word