1
as in garbage
discarded or useless material
the unsightly debris left after mining operations had ceased
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of debris
Make sure any plant debris is removed from the bed at the end of the season, so the adult beetles have less shelter for overwintering.
—
Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 29 May 2025
Video of the mudslide shows large mounds of debris racing down the mountain before burying the village of Batten.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 29 May 2025
For years, the Birch Glacier has been creeping down the mountainside, pressured by shifting debris near the summit.
—Dave Graham, Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 2025
In February 2025, officials noted that although Lake James is safe for swimming and boating in the summer 2025 season, boaters need to take extra caution with remaining debris in the water after Hurricane Helene.
—Melissa Oyler, Charlotte Observer, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for debris
Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 29 May 2025
Video of the mudslide shows large mounds of debris racing down the mountain before burying the village of Batten.
—Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 29 May 2025
For years, the Birch Glacier has been creeping down the mountainside, pressured by shifting debris near the summit.
—Dave Graham, Christian Science Monitor, 29 May 2025
In February 2025, officials noted that although Lake James is safe for swimming and boating in the summer 2025 season, boaters need to take extra caution with remaining debris in the water after Hurricane Helene.
—Melissa Oyler, Charlotte Observer, 22 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for debris
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debris
Noun
-
With the welcome citywide expansion of organic collection (brown bins) joining with paper (green bins) and metal, glass and plastic (blue bins), the remaining black bag garbage will be made of nonrecyclable items like those same thin plastics that Sims rejects that are used for wrapping or bags.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
8 June 2025
-
The teen was found dismembered in garbage bags in a remote area, NBC News previously reported.—
Becca Longmire,
People.com,
6 June 2025
Noun
-
Responding firefighters helped remove the injured man from the rubble.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
5 June 2025
-
The pair found the artifact in a pile of rubble near former infantry barracks.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
4 June 2025
Noun
-
Vacuum, dust, or wipe surfaces and floors so the area is fresh for the next step: reorganizing.—
Mary Cornetta,
Better Homes & Gardens,
12 June 2025
-
On Monday during a heated (fictional) confrontation with Bella, former WWE Women’s Champion Liv Morgan referenced the returning superstar’s divorce before their interaction quickly moved on to a physical dust up in the ring.—
Sean Neumann,
People.com,
12 June 2025
Noun
-
The thirty-nine-year-old Amelia Earhart and her crew of two navigators, Fred Noonan and Harry Manning, crawled out of the wreckage, unsettled but otherwise unhurt.—
Laurie Gwen Shapiro,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
-
Her body was recovered hours afterwards from beneath the wreckage of a building that was also damaged in the crash.—
Mike Hendricks,
Kansas City Star,
29 May 2025
Noun
-
Both of their remains are presumed to have been transported to Hawaii’s trash incinerator.—
Lesley Cosme Torres,
People.com,
6 June 2025
-
Your town may have a trash pickup walk, a Thanksgiving turkey trot or a stroll to historic sites.—
Elizabeth Passarella,
New York Times,
6 June 2025
Noun
-
And oftentimes, these cheap items end up as rubbish.—
Ramishah Maruf,
CNN Money,
16 Apr. 2025
-
This never got past the drawing board stage, but the idea kept cropping up again and again with many variations on a circular shape and performance that spanned from interesting to rubbish.—
David Szondy,
New Atlas,
29 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
And there are the old pitfalls of the technology that anyone above a certain age remembers: blurry pages, junk faxes that pile up and faxes getting sent to the wrong number.—
Tamsin Gable,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
-
In 2018, inspired by this culture of bricolage, curator Danni Friedman and designer Jean Lee gathered a group of designers in Havana for a ten-day workshop, turning them loose in an old shipyard factory filled with clay, concrete mix, scrap metal, and assorted junk.—
Glenn Adamson,
Artforum,
1 June 2025
Noun
-
FanDuel Sports Kansas City trucks potentially could have been impacted by the storm.—
Pete Grathoff,
Kansas City Star,
5 June 2025
-
His pickup truck was discovered, unoccupied, on Monday near a campground west of Leavenworth, Washington.—
Jade Walker,
CNN Money,
5 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Debris.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debris. Accessed 17 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share