debris

«debris» in Mova's school dictionary: Broken pieces left after something has been destroyed or… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (debris — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Broken pieces left after something has been destroyed or has fallen: bits of wood, stone, glass. tree →

2) Rubbish or small pieces scattered about. tree →

3) (science) Rock and dust, or pieces of old rockets and satellites in space (space debris). tree →

sense in the lessons

In news and safety lessons debris after a storm, earthquake or crash can be dangerous, so people stay away. In science «space debris» is junk orbiting the Earth. Phrases: «covered in debris», «flying debris», «space debris», «clear the debris».

examples

• After the storm the road was covered in debris. tree →
• Firefighters searched the debris for survivors. tree →
• Flying debris can be dangerous in a strong wind. tree →
• Space debris circles the Earth very fast. tree →
• The beach was full of debris from the shipwreck. tree →
• We cleared the debris from the garden. tree →

note

Uncountable: «a lot of debris», not «debrises». Say DEB-ree (UK) or duh-BREE (US); the s is silent — it comes from French.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «debris» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.