Entry Word: remains

Function: noun plural

Meaning: 1 the portion or bits of something left over or behind after it has been destroyed <the remains of the house ripped apart by the tornado littered the block for weeks afterward>

Synonyms ashes, debris, residue, rubble, ruins, wreck, wreckage

Related Words detritus, flotsam, jetsam; garbage, refuse, trash

2 a dead body <archaeologists discovered the remains of an Incan woman and carefully excavated her burial site, which promised to yield important clues about her status> — see corpse
3 a remaining group or portion <gathered up the remains of the buffet and delivered them to a local homeless shelter> — see remainder 1