1
as in garbage
discarded or useless material
the unsightly debris left after mining operations had ceased
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in rubble
the portion or bits of something left over or behind after it has been destroyed
the demolition workers cleared away all of the debris from the demolished building
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of debris
The restaurant was also dinged after an inspector noticed food debris on kitchen equipment and employees preparing food without gloves.
—
Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 4 Sep. 2025
At the same time, rocky fragments both from the impacting object and also Martian debris were injected deep into the planet’s interior.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025
Alpert is all about the LED headlights that highlight every spec of dirt and debris.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 3 Sep. 2025
On the morning of Aug. 13, a three-person city crew equipped with a skid steer, a dump truck, shovels and rakes was making its way up North 19th Street, picking up pile after pile of debris sitting outside homes.
—Alison Dirr, jsonline.com, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debris
Evan Moore, Charlotte Observer, 4 Sep. 2025
At the same time, rocky fragments both from the impacting object and also Martian debris were injected deep into the planet’s interior.
—Eric Lagatta, USA Today, 4 Sep. 2025
Alpert is all about the LED headlights that highlight every spec of dirt and debris.
—Yelena Moroz Alpert, Architectural Digest, 3 Sep. 2025
On the morning of Aug. 13, a three-person city crew equipped with a skid steer, a dump truck, shovels and rakes was making its way up North 19th Street, picking up pile after pile of debris sitting outside homes.
—Alison Dirr, jsonline.com, 13 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debris
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debris
Noun
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People were calling it tacky, brave, MFA garbage, heart wrenching.—
Sarah Adler
September 8,
Literary Hub,
8 Sep. 2025
-
The character of Robbie, a garbage collector- turned-criminal, came to you through a suggestion from someone.—
Antonia Blyth,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Schools, churches, small shops that survived the devastating 2010 earthquake that killed over 300,000 are now a pile of rubble, part of the apocalyptic landscape left behind by the retreating forces that control almost all of Haiti’s capital.—
Johnny Fils-Aimé,
Miami Herald,
8 Sep. 2025
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Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv's military administration, said an infant's body was pulled from the rubble in the Darnytskyi district, where a four-story apartment building was damaged.—
Lidia Kelly,
USA Today,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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How Often To Clean Linoleum Floors For general cleaning, Marla Mock, president of Molly Maid, recommends removing dust and debris in high-traffic areas daily using a dry microfiber mop.—
Daley Quinn,
Southern Living,
7 Sep. 2025
-
The dust-less quality makes litter tracking minimal and easy to clean up.—
Kayla Blanton,
PEOPLE,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
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More than two years of civil war in Sudan have displaced 12 million people, killed at least 150,000 (and likely far more than that), put 25 million people in danger of starvation, and left wide swaths of physical wreckage.—
Lynsey Addario,
The Atlantic,
8 Sep. 2025
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While Good Samaritans were able to rescue five of the nine passengers from the wreckage, Angie was still inside, struggling to free herself.—
Amber Corrine,
VIBE.com,
5 Sep. 2025
Noun
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By contrast, Jeffrey goes out of his way to help the employees, breaking into Mitch’s computer to change their timesheets and stealing a trash bag full of goodies to donate to the toy drive at Leigh’s church.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
7 Sep. 2025
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The polyolefins Marks is referring to are what trash bags, plastic wrap, squeeze bottles, and other disposable single-use packaging are made of.—
Abhimanyu Ghoshal,
New Atlas,
7 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Sardinia, an Italian island in the Mediterranean just south of France's Corsica, is famed for its beaches and ancient ruins.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
4 Sep. 2025
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Well, or how the ancient ruins of Petra stole the show in the final scenes of Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989).—
Mathew Scott,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the police headquarters in Denpasar, Bali’s capital, on Saturday as some burned rubbish on the street and police fired tear gas into the crowd.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
1 Sep. 2025
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Pieces of plastic, including bottles, bags, straws and cutlery, make up two thirds of the rubbish found in rivers around the world, according to a new analysis.—
Jamie Hailstone,
Forbes.com,
16 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Now supposedly dying from some terminal illness, Julian has gone total hermit mode inside of his cluttered London apartment, where the walls are festooned with the relics of his success and the backrooms are a junk pile of painful memories.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
9 Sep. 2025
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Expect the Nationals to dispute the characterization of their ticket sales as relying on junk fees.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Debris.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debris. Accessed 11 Sep. 2025.
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