noun
debris
duh-BREE/dəˈbriː/
Scattered pieces left after damage or decay.
Broken bricks and splintered timber form debris beneath the damaged wall.
Etymology
The pieces mean “break down”: debris names what remains after that action. The focus shifted from breaking or crushing to the loose fragments and waste it leaves behind.
In context
if it was a spaceship crashing into the earth there would be debris there would be artifacts
More examples
- Workers cleared debris from the road.
- The storm left debris across the beach.
- A piece of debris blocked the drain.
Forms
debris
Similar words
- rubble
- Usually broken pieces of buildings or stone rather than all debris.
- wreckage
- Wreckage specifically suggests remains of something destroyed.