detritus
noun/dɪˈtraɪtəs/
/dɪˈtraɪtəs/
[uncountable]- (specialist) natural waste material that is left after something has been used or broken up
- organic detritus from fish and plants
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- (formal) any kind of rubbish that is left after an event or when something has been used synonym debris
- the detritus of everyday life
- The kitchen table was still stacked with the detritus of the previous night.
Word Originlate 18th cent. (in the sense ‘detrition’): from French détritus, from Latin detritus, from deterere ‘wear away’.
Check pronunciation:
detritus