wreckage

noun

wreck·​age ˈre-kij How to pronounce wreckage (audio)
1
: the act of wrecking : the state of being wrecked
2
a
: something that has been wrecked
b
: broken and disordered parts or material from something wrecked

Examples of wreckage in a Sentence

Workers sifted through the wreckage of the building, searching for bodies. They cleared the wreckage from the track.
Recent Examples on the Web But how the body repairs this kind of wreckage has been a source of mystery. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2024 He was not poisoned with a weapons-grade toxin or found in the wreckage of an aircraft that plunged from the sky. Greg Miller, Washington Post, 21 Feb. 2024 The wreckage was later identified as that of the Arlington. Gabe Hauari, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024 The wreckage of the vehicle in which Kenya's marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum and his coach were killed in a traffic accident near the Rift Valley town of Eldoret, Kenya on February 12. Larry Madowo, CNN, 12 Feb. 2024 Investigators on Sunday began mapping the area with drones and documenting the wreckage. Adam Beam, Chinedu Asadu and Stefanie Dazio, Quartz, 11 Feb. 2024 The team worked this past weekend and took detailed photographs, video and measurements and collected wood core samples to try and determine the origin of the wreckage. Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Fox News, 8 Feb. 2024 The driver’s passenger was able to escape from wreckage after suffering minor injuries. Caleb Lunetta, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2024 Parts of the wreckage from the aircraft later washed ashore and were recovered. Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 5 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wreckage.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of wreckage was in 1837

Dictionary Entries Near wreckage

Cite this Entry

“Wreckage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wreckage. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

wreckage

noun
wreck·​age ˈrek-ij How to pronounce wreckage (audio)
1
a
: the act of wrecking
b
: the state of being wrecked
2
: the remains of a wreck

More from Merriam-Webster on wreckage

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