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
Roseman will debrief the draft process.
—
Zach Berman, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
Fox said Williams was debriefed in September 2015 and signed a nondisclosure agreement.
—Allen G. Breed, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for debrief
Zach Berman, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
Fox said Williams was debriefed in September 2015 and signed a nondisclosure agreement.
—Allen G. Breed, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for debrief
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debrief
Verb
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Build a culture of intellectual accountability in which employees are expected to interrogate AI output rather than relay it.—
Chris Rosenberg,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
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On May 13, investigators with Dallas police traveled to Beeville, Texas, where Holloway is incarcerated, to get a DNA sample and interrogate him.—
Saleen Martin,
USA Today,
28 May 2026
Verb
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Trump frequently questioned Joe Biden's fitness.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
7 June 2026
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Some questioned how handing out reprints of an editorial published in the ADA’s own journal, at the ADA’s own annual conference, could be construed as a violation of that code.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
6 June 2026
Verb
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Point guard Jalen Brunson has returned to sitting on the Knicks' bench since his knee was examined in the team's locker room.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
4 June 2026
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The cost of silence First, the researchers examined direct defenses—the chemical and physical changes the plant undergoes to make its leaves less palatable for caterpillars and thus hamper their growth.—
Jacek Krywko,
ArsTechnica,
3 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Debrief.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debrief. Accessed 8 Jun. 2026.
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