flotsam

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noun flot·sam \ ˈflät-səm \

Definition of flotsam

1 :floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo; broadly :floating debris

flotsam washed up by the tide

2 a :a floating population (as of emigrants or castaways)

human flotsam

b :miscellaneous or unimportant material

a notebook filled with flotsam and jetsam

c :debris, remains

the village … built on the flotsam of war
—Stan Sesser

See flotsam defined for English-language learners

See flotsam defined for kids

flotsam was our Word of the Day on 11/11/2012. Hear the podcast!

Examples of flotsam in a Sentence

flotsam washed up on the shore
the dispirited family picked through the flotsam of their possessions after the hurricane, looking for anything that could be salvaged

Recent Examples of flotsam from the Web

Tunicates scour the currents for the tastiest bits of flotsam, sucking the water in through their incurrent siphon and ejecting it through an excurrent siphon.

— jennifer frazer, Scientific American Blog Network, "Alien Creature Swarming Oregon's Coast Is Actually a Close Relative [Video]," 10 July 2017
Beyond that lies veteran flotsam in the form of Matt Albers, Joe Blanton and busted top prospect Jacob Turner, who have all come up short as high-leverage options.

— jon tayler, SI.com, "Losing Trea Turner hurts, but Nationals' bullpen problem is far more worrisome," 30 June 2017
The medics were treating up to 60 casualties per day; many were civilians, the flotsam of war.

— fred dickey, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Volunteer 'adventure' in Iraq still haunts Derek Coleman," 18 June 2017
The den of the model home is converted to a second bedroom, and flotsam of everyday life from the time will be in view.

— by roxie hammill, kansascity.com, "King Louie hands over the reins: Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center set to open," 30 May 2017
But there is none of the designer’s flotsam: papers, books, sketches.

— christina binkley, WSJ, "Behind the Scenes at Gucci’s New Hub," 24 Apr. 2017
Clearing out the flotsam and organizing what remains can be daunting or downright overwhelming.

— katherine roth, The Denver Post, "Spring cleaning: 4 steps to a more organized garage," 15 Apr. 2017
Historical figures aren’t human flotsam, swirling into public awareness at random intervals.

— kathryn schulz, The New Yorker, "The Many Lives of Pauli Murray," 7 Apr. 2017
That was followed by the Facebook stream, with its journalistic jetsam and fake flotsam....

— robert thomson, WSJ, "Fake News and the Digital Duopoly," 4 Apr. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'flotsam.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

flotsam and jetsam Aren't Just Ursula's Eels

English speakers started using "flotsam," "jetsam," and "lagan" as legal terms in the 16th and 17th centuries. (The earliest evidence of "flotsam" dates from around 1607.) The three words were used to establish claims of ownership to the three types of sea-borne, vessel-originated goods they named. Flotsam was anything from a shipwreck. (The word comes from Old French floter, meaning"to float.") Jetsam and lagan were items thrown overboard to lighten a ship. Lagan was distinguished from jetsam by having a buoy attached so the goods could be found if they sank. In the 19th century, when "flotsam" and "jetsam" took on extended meanings, they became synonyms, but they are still very often paired.