as in interrogating
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 debriefing
Since making their water landing, the three Americans and one Canadian who set out on the lunar journey have been busy, spending recent weeks reuniting with family, debriefing the mission and making media appearances – all while adapting to life back on Earth.
—
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
Apart from debriefing after the trip to the winery, this was a big episode for dates.
—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
13 Apr. 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
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
For Morgan, making a video at the end of the day, debriefing all aspects of the long, grueling days of recruitment, was never going to be a polished piece of content.
—
Tabitha Parent,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Saman Shafiq,
USA Today,
29 Apr. 2026
Apart from debriefing after the trip to the winery, this was a big episode for dates.
—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
13 Apr. 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
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
For Morgan, making a video at the end of the day, debriefing all aspects of the long, grueling days of recruitment, was never going to be a polished piece of content.
—
Tabitha Parent,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debriefing
Verb
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Investigators sat across from nearly every young child at Skyline – many of whose nascent, swinging legs could not yet reach the ground from their chairs – interrogating them over their missing classmate.
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New York police executing a search warrant raided an LGBTQ+ bar called the Stonewall Inn, and some of the patrons resisted as officers continued interrogating them and bar employees.
Verb
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Conservative critics seized upon those allegations, accusing Hosseini of exerting outsized influence over UF’s presidential search process and questioning whether trustees had exercised independent judgment in selecting Bell.
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What immediately followed that bright June day were dark months marred by the state’s largest criminal investigation in history coming up empty, police questioning second graders for new leads and mounting legal battles among the Horman family grappling with utter devastation.
Verb
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During the quantum program, Dash worked with Flores and another member of the cohort to develop a project examining how quantum computing could be used to detect the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
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Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus Start by examining the leaves.
Cite this Entry
“Debriefing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debriefing. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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