debris
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the broken pieces that are left after something is destroyed or damaged.
the scattered fragments or wreckage of something that has been demolished, destroyed, or broken down.
Simple“After the storm, the garden was covered in debris from the fallen trees.”
In context“Emergency crews worked through the night to clear the debris from the collapsed bridge, searching for any signs of survivors beneath the twisted metal.”
UsageThis noun is uncountable and does not take a plural 's'.
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
pieces of waste or trash that are scattered in a place.
discarded refuse or litter found in a particular environment.
Simple“Volunteers spent the weekend picking up plastic debris from the local beach.”
In context“The accumulation of orbital debris poses a significant threat to active satellites and future space exploration missions.”
UsageOften used in environmental contexts like 'space debris' or 'marine debris'.
- 03 C1 Advanced
rocks and dirt left behind by a glacier or a landslide.
an accumulation of loose rock fragments or organic matter, often deposited by geological processes like glaciation.
Simple“The melting glacier left behind a huge pile of rocky debris in the valley.”
In context“The landslide deposited a massive fan of debris at the base of the mountain, blocking the river and creating a natural dam.”
Usage debris removal
“Water and debris burst into a state-run hydropower tunnel in Uttarakhand following a landslide.”
“When they reopened them, everything was covered in dust and debris.”
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.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.