debris

/dɪˈbri/

/dəˈbri/

Debris is trash scattered around after a disaster, like shattered glass on the road after a car accident.

Debris comes from French for "waste, rubbish." Although debris usually refers to the trash leftover after some kind of explosion or crash, it can also be what's on your floor after hosting a kid's make-your-own pizza party, or what you shouldn't leave at the park after a picnic. Sometimes Mother Nature leaves debris, such as a pile of rocks, or that car on your lawn after the flood recedes. Don't pronounce the "s": debris rhymes with "be free."

Definitions of debris

1. noun

   the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken up
   synonyms: detritus, dust, junk, rubble

   types:

   slack

   dust consisting of a mixture of small coal fragments and coal dust and dirt that sifts out when coal is passed over a sieve

   type of:

   garbage, refuse, rubbish, scrap, trash

   worthless material that is to be disposed of