as in debris
the portion or bits of something left over or behind after it has been destroyed
the dispirited family picked through the flotsam of their possessions after the hurricane, looking for anything that could be salvaged
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Recent Examples of flotsam
The headlamps of their truck illuminated little more than a wedge of flotsam.
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Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024
Living in White Plains, N.Y., in the 1980s, Mrs. Wallace galvanized a broad campaign to rescue the river, at the time an inaccessible 23-mile watercourse that was home to more flotsam, like the carcasses of junked cars and rusted refrigerators, than fauna.
—Sam Roberts, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024
At dawn, the water flowed through some city streets like coastal rivers, moving jellyfish, seaweed and flotsam several blocks landward.
—Reuters, CNN, 7 Feb. 2024
The European Space Agency, NASA and other spacefaring organizations across the globe have been looking for ways to mitigate the ever-growing cosmic junkyard of old satellites and rocket flotsam crowding Earth's orbit.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for flotsam 
Paige Williams, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024
Living in White Plains, N.Y., in the 1980s, Mrs. Wallace galvanized a broad campaign to rescue the river, at the time an inaccessible 23-mile watercourse that was home to more flotsam, like the carcasses of junked cars and rusted refrigerators, than fauna.
—Sam Roberts, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024
At dawn, the water flowed through some city streets like coastal rivers, moving jellyfish, seaweed and flotsam several blocks landward.
—Reuters, CNN, 7 Feb. 2024
The European Space Agency, NASA and other spacefaring organizations across the globe have been looking for ways to mitigate the ever-growing cosmic junkyard of old satellites and rocket flotsam crowding Earth's orbit.
—Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 11 Jan. 2024
See all Example Sentences for flotsam
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flotsam
Noun
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According to preliminary data, there are no casualties from falling debris.Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 23 Dec. 2024
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As Earth moves into that trail, the debris burns up in our atmosphere, creating shooting stars.Stefanie Waldek, Space.com, 20 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Rescuers pulled 10 bodies from the rubble, including two parents and their two children, the service confirmed.Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 16 Dec. 2024
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Over 105,000 people have been wounded, and thousands remain under rubble, the ministry said in a statement.NBC News, NBC News, 3 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Malaysian officials approved a third probe into the Indian Ocean with the goal of recovering wreckage from flight MH370, which disappeared more than a decade ago.Ashleigh Fields, The Hill, 20 Dec. 2024
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Hurricane Helene hit Florida as a Category 4 storm on September 26, then moved north over the Southeast U.S. and caused wreckage across the region, especially in western North Carolina.Joe Spring, Smithsonian Magazine, 20 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near flotsam
Cite this Entry
“Flotsam.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flotsam. Accessed 28 Dec. 2024.
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