as in to interrogate
to officially ask (someone) about a job that has been done or about an experience
Police debriefed the hostages upon their return. The pilot was debriefed after his flight.
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Recent Examples of debrief
Shortly thereafter, Dowd found herself inside the FBI’s resident agency in Brevard County, where she was debriefed by a special agent.
—
Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
Chapman, who worked long hours debriefing Marquez over the years and shepherded his grand jury testimony, grew emotional while talking about Marquez’s qualities as a wonky engineer who could talk endlessly about the inner workings of the ComEd’s electrical grid.
—Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2026
Editor Joyce Eng discuss the new name for the SAG Awards, the Actor Awards, and Gerrad debriefs on the Governors Awards.
—Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Dec. 2025
Health care workers may dip into depression and substance abuse, and Rau seeks to counter that by debriefing his staff after tragedies and encouraging them to reach out to one another.
—Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 29 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debrief
Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
Chapman, who worked long hours debriefing Marquez over the years and shepherded his grand jury testimony, grew emotional while talking about Marquez’s qualities as a wonky engineer who could talk endlessly about the inner workings of the ComEd’s electrical grid.
—Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2026
Editor Joyce Eng discuss the new name for the SAG Awards, the Actor Awards, and Gerrad debriefs on the Governors Awards.
—Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Dec. 2025
Health care workers may dip into depression and substance abuse, and Rau seeks to counter that by debriefing his staff after tragedies and encouraging them to reach out to one another.
—Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 29 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debrief
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debrief
Verb
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Just as the Greens and their families interview their matches, the Eyes turn up unannounced at the Aunt Lydia School to interrogate the Pearl Girls, which means Weston is pulling double-duty.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
6 May 2026
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Goldman advises hyperscalers, underwrites chip company offerings, and sits at the table with the companies building the very infrastructure Covello was interrogating.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
6 May 2026
Verb
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Araghchi questioned whether the latest military exchange was meant to pressure Iran into a peace deal or the result of someone persuading the president of the United States (POTUS) to extend the conflict.—
Michael Loria,
USA Today,
9 May 2026
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Some have questioned whether the Biennale really is a nonpartisan exhibition, pointing to the show’s history of making political statements, including in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine.—
Alex Greenberger,
ARTnews.com,
9 May 2026
Verb
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Like last year, there was a long list of criteria the PWHL examined when deciding where to expand this season, including market size, fan support, infrastructure and what kind of economic opportunity exists in the market, among other factors.—
Max Bultman,
New York Times,
6 May 2026
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The Moroccan navy released video Wednesday showing military divers examining caves, aircraft scanning the ocean surface and teams of uniformed personnel and canine crews combing the rocky shoreline.—
Akram Oubachir,
Los Angeles Times,
6 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Debrief.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debrief. Accessed 11 May. 2026.
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