as in debris
the portion or bits of something left over or behind after it has been destroyed
the expanse of tree stumps represented the detritus of a vast forest that had been mercilessly clear-cut
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of detritus
And while space debris and meteoroids of comparable mass burn up in our atmosphere almost every day, this piece of manufactured orbital detritus is unique.
—
Eric MacK, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025
But if there isn’t enough kelp detritus to go around, urchins can start feeding on the living kelp itself.
—Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 1 Apr. 2025
At others, the idle pump jacks stood silent — corroded skeletons at the end of the line, the detritus of another run through the playbook.
—Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 30 Dec. 2024
Is Trump a secret minimalist, driven to limit the detritus accruing in American houses?
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for detritus
Eric MacK, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025
But if there isn’t enough kelp detritus to go around, urchins can start feeding on the living kelp itself.
—Byrd Pinkerton, Vox, 1 Apr. 2025
At others, the idle pump jacks stood silent — corroded skeletons at the end of the line, the detritus of another run through the playbook.
—Mark Olalde, ProPublica, 30 Dec. 2024
Is Trump a secret minimalist, driven to limit the detritus accruing in American houses?
—Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for detritus
Recent Examples of Synonyms for detritus
Noun
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Fortunately, the lighter rainfall levels have decreased the risk of a debris flow taking place in the Eaton and Palisades fire burn scars, a possibility forecasters warned of Monday.—
Clara Harter,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2025
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Satellite imagery showing two Russian A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft with tires and debris on the wings at the Ivanovo air base, Russia, on May 3, 2025.—
Ellie Cook,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 June 2025
Noun
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Responding firefighters helped remove the injured man from the rubble.—
Thomas Tracy,
New York Daily News,
5 June 2025
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The pair found the artifact in a pile of rubble near former infantry barracks.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
4 June 2025
Noun
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Detritus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/detritus. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.
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