wreckage

noun

wreck·age | \ ˈre-kij

Definition of wreckage

1 : the act of wrecking : the state of being wrecked

2a : something that has been wrecked

b : broken and disordered parts or material from something wrecked

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Examples of wreckage in a Sentence

Workers sifted through the wreckage of the building, searching for bodies. They cleared the wreckage from the track.

Recent Examples on the Web

The fire spread so quickly that crash survivors risked their own lives to pull friends and family out of the wreckage. — Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, "The Hammond Train Wreck of 1918 Killed Scores of Circus Performers," 22 June 2018 The exact location of the wreckage is still a secret, but it was discovered in November 2015 off the coast of Cartagena, Colombia. — CBS News, "Robot submarine finds "holy grail of shipwrecks" with up to $17 billion in treasure," 23 May 2018 Passing cars slowed to gawk and take pictures of the wreckage. — Staff Report, courant.com, "Stories From The Storm: Connecticut Residents Deal With The Devastation," 16 May 2018 Authorities were hoping that there were large enough pieces of the plane left to allow for identification of the wreckage, Rylaarsdam said. — City News Service, Ramona Sentinel, "Deputies recover bodies of plane crash victims," 14 May 2018 Photographs of the wreckage showed the twisted trailer with most of its wheels in the air and the bus on its side with its back portion destroyed. — Jeremy Hainsworth And Rob Gillies, chicagotribune.com, "Canadian town mourns after 15 die when truck slams into youth hockey team's bus," 8 Apr. 2018 Photographs of the wreckage showed the twisted trailer with most of its wheels in the air and the bus on its side and its back portion destroyed. — Houston Chronicle, "15 die when truck collides with hockey team's bus in Canada," 7 Apr. 2018 In July 1947, Army officials said that the wreckage of a mysterious object found on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, were the remnants of a weather observation balloon, not an alien spacecraft. — sandiegouniontribune.com, "July 9, 1947: Summer of flying saucers," 9 July 2018 The wreckage of the San José was discovered two years ago, but the location off the Colombian port town of Cartagena and other details have been closely held secrets. — Cleve R. Wootson Jr., Washington Post, "A robot submarine found the ‘Holy Grail of shipwrecks.’ It’s worth billions.," 23 May 2018

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

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Last Updated

12 Mar 2019

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The first known use of wreckage was in 1837

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More Definitions for wreckage

wreckage

noun

English Language Learners Definition of wreckage

: the broken parts of a vehicle, building, etc., that has been badly damaged or destroyed

See the full definition for wreckage in the English Language Learners Dictionary

wreckage

noun

wreck·age | \ ˈre-kij

Kids Definition of wreckage

1 : the remains of a wreck I therefore set out … to search for whatever wreckage the waves had washed ashore.— Scott O'Dell, Island of the Blue Dolphins

2 : the act of wrecking : the state of being wrecked