Dictionary

debris en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /dəˈbɹiː/ (Australia, New-Zealand, US)
• /ˈdeɪbɹi/ (UK)
• (US) audio
• /ˈdɛbɹi/ (UK)

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.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.
   • But signalman Bridges was never to answer driver Gimbert's desperate question. A deafening, massive blast blew the wagon to shreds, the 44 high-explosive bombs exploding like simultaneous hits from the aircraft they should have been dropped from. The station was instantly reduced to bits of debris, and the line to a huge crater. 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, archived from the original on 21 Dec 2020, page 43:
   • His neighbors were still ripping out debris. But Mr. Ryan, a retired bricklayer who built his house by hand 30 years ago only to lose most of it to Hurricane Sandy, was already hard at work rebuilding. 2012 December 21, David M. Halbfinger, Charles V. Bagli, Sarah Maslin Nir, “On Ravaged Coastline, It’s Rebuild Deliberately vs. Rebuild Now”, in The New York Times:
   • Melissa Foley clears debris in her neighborhood as the San Lorenzo River rises in Felton on Saturday, January 14. 2023 January 16, “California’s flooding, in pictures”, in CNN, archived from the original on 17 Mar 2023:
2. (uncountable) Litter and discarded refuse.
   • [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […]. 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 08 Mar 2023:
3. (uncountable) Large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.

Forms

Deriveds

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

Hypernyms

remainder · piece

Relateds

broken · trash

Synonyms

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

Translations (118)

cmn 碎石堆 (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · mr अवशेष (litter and discarded refuse) · es restos (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · nl wrakstukken (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · sv sopor (litter and discarded refuse) · bg оста́тъци (litter and discarded refuse) · bg отпа́дъци (litter and discarded refuse) · pt lixo (litter and discarded refuse) · pt destroços (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · cs trosky (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · sv skräp (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · scn resta (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · es escombros (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fi pirstaleet (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · gl rebo (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · pl morena (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · hi अवशेष (litter and discarded refuse) · es detritos (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · de Ruinen (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · gd sprùilleach (litter and discarded refuse) · ca restes (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · cmn 殘骸 /残骸 (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · mr अवशेष (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · de Schutt (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · bg отло́мки (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · ru му́сор (litter and discarded refuse) · scn ruini (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · pt morena (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · pl gruzy (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · es morrena (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · id serpihan (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · bg разва́лини (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · gl rello (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · tr enkaz (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · pt detritos (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · el συντρίμμια (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · ru разва́лины (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · kmr pirtik (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · nl puin (litter and discarded refuse) · fi jäte (litter and discarded refuse) · scn ngrasciu (litter and discarded refuse) · gl restoballo (litter and discarded refuse) · ru обло́мки (litter and discarded refuse) · es escombra (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · es cachureo (litter and discarded refuse) · de Trümmer (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · mk шут (litter and discarded refuse) · gl refugallo (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · pl resztki (litter and discarded refuse) · scn schifìu (litter and discarded refuse) · sv skräp (litter and discarded refuse) · cmn 廢棄物 /废弃物 (litter and discarded refuse) · gl entullo (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · nl overblijfselen (litter and discarded refuse) · cmn 岩屑 (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · it macerie (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · hi मलबा (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · hi मलबा (litter and discarded refuse) · mr मलवा (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · be адло́мкі (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fi jäänteet (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · ar رُكام (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · es escombro (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · az dağıntı (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · nl puin (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · de Geröll (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · es basura (litter and discarded refuse) · eo rubo (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · ja 残骸 (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · gl morea (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · ga smionagar (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · gl garampallo (litter and discarded refuse) · hu törmelék (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · la rūdus (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · gl trollo (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · cmn 碎片 (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fi jätteet (litter and discarded refuse) · grc χέραδος (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · it rovine (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · gl murgallo (litter and discarded refuse) · es fragmentos glaciares (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · ko 잔해 (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fi rippeet (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · es detrito (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · ru лом (litter and discarded refuse) · vi mảnh vụn (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · pt moreia (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · nl gletjserpuin n etc. (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · pt restos (litter and discarded refuse) · cmn 瓦礫 /瓦砾 (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · pl gruz (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · gl farraspa (litter and discarded refuse) · ru обло́мки (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · pl pozostałości (litter and discarded refuse) · scn lurdìa (litter and discarded refuse) · cs sutiny (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fi roska (litter and discarded refuse) · fi siirtolohkare (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · nl restanten (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fr débris (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · be абло́мкі (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · de Müll (litter and discarded refuse) · nl afval (litter and discarded refuse) · gd sprùilleach (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · cmn 垃圾 (litter and discarded refuse) · fi lohkare (large rock fragments left by a melting glacier etc.) · scn munnizza (litter and discarded refuse) · uk ула́мки (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · ckb داروپەردو (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · io eskombro (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fi tähteet (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · es detritus (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · uk розва́лини (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · nl wrakhout (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fi romu (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · fi romu (litter and discarded refuse) · de Geröll (rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed) · eo rubo (litter and discarded refuse)