detritus

Meaning

1. (countable, usually) Pieces of rock broken off by ice, glacier, or erosion.
2. (uncountable, usually) Organic waste material from decomposing dead plants or animals.
3. (broadly, uncountable, usually) Any debris or fragments of disintegrated material.
4. (uncountable, usually) Rock consisting of accumulated debris from decayed rocks, like sand, that often is joined by cement.

Synonyms

debris

rubble

junk

dust

waste

scree

soil

trash

bank gravel

pit run

rock debris

rock fragments

boulder

run-of-bank stone

crushed rock

gravel

litter

rubbish

Translations

detrito

détritus

débris

detrito

Geröll

pietrisco

Detritus

destroços

escombros

afval

puin

poussière

detritus

terregall

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dɪˈtɹaɪ.təs/

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin dētrītus (“(that which is) rubbed away”), from dēterō (“rub away”).

Sentences

He washed the detritus from his hair .