flotsam

flot·sam

 (flŏt′səm)

n.

1. Goods floating on the surface of a body of water after a shipwreck or after being cast overboard to lighten the ship.

2. Discarded or unimportant things: "Keyrings, bookmarks ... gum, scissors, paper clips ... pencils and pads stolen from various hotels: all this detritus, this flotsam of a life being lived at full throttle" (David Leavitt).

3. People who are considered to be worthless or to have been rejected by society.

---

[Anglo-Norman floteson, from Old French floter, to float, of Germanic origin; see pleu- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

flotsam

(ˈflɒtsəm)

n

1. (Nautical Terms) wreckage from a ship found floating. Compare jetsam¹, lagan

2. useless or discarded objects; odds and ends (esp in the phrase flotsam and jetsam)

3. vagrants

[C16: from Anglo-French floteson, from floter to float]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

flot•sam

(ˈflɒt səm)

n.

1. the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water. Compare jetsam, lagan.

2. refuse floating on water.

3. useless or unimportant items; odds and ends.

4. a vagrant population.

Also called flot′sam and jet′sam (for defs. 3, 4).

[1600–10; < Anglo-French floteson, derivative of floter to float < Germanic; see float]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

flotsam

material floating on the sea, especially debris or goods from ship-wrecks. Cf. jetsam.

See also: Ships

-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Flotsam

 parts of wreckage of a ship or cargo found floating on the sea, 1607; of odds and ends, 1861. See also jetsam.

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

flotsam - the floating wreckage of a ship jetsam wreckage - the remaining parts of something that has been wrecked; "they searched the wreckage for signs of survivors"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

flotsam

noun debris, sweepings, rubbish, junk, wreckage, detritus, odds and ends, jetsam The water was full of flotsam and refuse.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

épave

relittirelitti galleggiantivagabondi

flotsam

[ˈflɒtsəm] N flotsam and jetsam → restos mpl (de naufragio) (Tech) (frm) → pecios mpl

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

flotsam

[ˈflɒtsəm] n

(= floating rubbish) → déchets mpl flottants, déchets mpl à la dérive
flotsam and jetsam (= floating rubbish) → déchets mpl flottants (= odds and ends) → objets mpl hétéroclites, déchets mpl

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

flotsam

n → Treibgut nt; he was another of the city’s flotsam → er gehörte auch zu den Gestrandeten der Stadt; flotsam and jetsam (floating) → Treibgut nt; (washed ashore) → Strandgut nt; the flotsam and jetsam of our society → die Gestrandeten pl → or das Strandgut unserer Gesellschaft

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

flotsam

[ˈflɒtsəm] n flotsam and jetsam → rifiuti mpl portati dal mare (people) → relitti mpl

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995