Dictionary

wreckage en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈɹɛkɪdʒ/

Etymology

Etymology tree English wreck Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-tós Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂tos Proto-Italic *-ātos Latin -ātus Proto-Indo-European *-ikos Proto-Italic *-ikos Latin -icus Latin -āticus Latin -āticum Old French -agebor. Middle English -age English -age English wreckage From wreck + -age.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) Something wrecked, especially the remains or debris of something which has been severely damaged or destroyed.
   • Explorers have found the 153-year-old wreckage of the Bay State, one the earlier propeller-driven steamships to ply the waters of the Great Lakes. 2015 October 22, Michael Pearson, “153-year-old shipwreck found in Lake Ontario”, in CNN:
   • Typically for the 'get-on-with-it' era, the railway and military worked like demons to restore the vital rail link. The crater was rapidly filled in and the earth tamped solid, the wreckage was removed by breakdown trains, new rails and sleepers were rushed forward by willing hands, and US Army bulldozers piled in. By 2020 on the same day, both tracks were open for traffic again where there had been a gaping pit just hours before. 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 43:
   • More recent attempts to salvage general equilibrium theory from the Sonnenschein-Mantel-Debreu wreckage have met with little success[.] 2024, Jeremy B. Rudd, A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics, page 2:
   • About three or four minutes later still an express freight on the up main line ran into the wreckage at about 35 m.p.h. Its engine also overturned and 15 more wagons were added to the mounting pile of wreckage. 1962 October 14, “Talking of Trains: The collisions at Connington”, in Modern Railways, page 232:

Forms

Translations (26)

ab ахыжәжәа́ра (something wrecked) · es restos (something wrecked) · ru оста́тки (something wrecked) · mk о́станки (something wrecked) · ab ацәынха́ (something wrecked) · cmn 殘骸 /残骸 (something wrecked) · sl razbitina (something wrecked) · mk оста́тоци (something wrecked) · de Trümmer (something wrecked) · ru обло́мки (something wrecked) · fr décombres (something wrecked) · sh olupina (something wrecked) · nb vrakgods (something wrecked) · pl szczątki (something wrecked) · ab ацыԥҵәа́ха (something wrecked) · mi kōkīkī (something wrecked) · ru руи́ны (something wrecked) · fi romu (something wrecked) · bg отломки (something wrecked) · ja 残骸 (something wrecked) · da vraggods (something wrecked) · bg останки (something wrecked) · hu roncs (something wrecked) · mk кр́нтија (something wrecked) · es escombros (something wrecked) · nn vrakgods (something wrecked)