Detritus \De*tri"tus\, n. [F. d['e]tritus, fr. L. detritus, p.
p. of deterere. See Detriment.]
1. (Geol.) A mass of substances worn off from solid bodies by
attrition, and reduced to small portions; as, diluvial
detritus.
[1913 Webster]
Note: For large portions, the word d['e]bris is used.
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2. Hence: Any fragments separated from the body to which they
belonged; any product of disintegration.
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The mass of detritus of which modern languages are
composed. --Farrar.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
detritus
n 1: the remains of something that has been destroyed or broken
up [syn: debris, dust, junk, rubble]
2: loose material (stone fragments and silt etc) that is worn
away from rocks
WordNet (r) 2.0
65 Moby Thesaurus words for "detritus":
afterglow, afterimage, alluvion, alluvium, balance, breccia, butt,
butt end, candle ends, chaff, debris, deposit, diluvium, drift,
end, fag end, filings, fossil, grain, granule, granulet, gravel,
grit, holdover, husks, leavings, leftovers, loess, moraine,
odds and ends, offscourings, orts, parings, rags, refuse, relics,
remainder, remains, remnant, residue, residuum, rest, roach,
rubbish, ruins, rump, sand, sawdust, scourings, scraps, scree,
sediment, shadow, shavings, shingle, silt, sinter, straw, stubble,
stump, survival, sweepings, trace, vestige, waste
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
debris, dust, junk, rubble
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