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Synonyms for flotsam

Grammar : Noun
Spell : flot-suh m
Phonetic Transcription : ˈflɒt səm


Définition of flotsam

Origin :
  • c.1600, from Anglo-French floteson, from Old French flotaison "a floating," from floter "to float" (of Germanic origin; see float) + -aison, from Latin -ation(em). Spelled flotsen till mid-19c. when it altered, perhaps under influence of many English words in -some.
  • In British law, flotsam are goods found floating on the sea as a consequence of a shipwreck or action of wind or waves; jetsam are things cast out of a ship in danger of being wrecked, and afterward washed ashore, or things cast ashore by the sailors. Whatever sinks is lagan. Figurative use for "odds and ends" attested by 1861.
  • noun floating debris
Example sentences :
  • They will find the courage to clear the land of the flotsam and cultivate it anew.
  • Extract from : « The Flood » by Emile Zola
  • A scuttle-butt was torn from its lashings and went by the board, and other flotsam followed it.
  • Extract from : « Blow The Man Down » by Holman Day
  • Logs, planks, and the other flotsam of a freshet moved on in the van of the flood.
  • Extract from : « Aladdin & Co. » by Herbert Quick
  • This is my estate, and all flotsam and jetsam as is washed ashore is mine.
  • Extract from : « King o' the Beach » by George Manville Fenn
  • The rest were in character with Grants nearer companions—just flotsam.
  • Extract from : « Dust of the Desert » by Robert Welles Ritchie
  • Among the torn bodies the flotsam of war lay unheeded in the mud.
  • Extract from : « The Story of the Munsters » by Mrs Victor Rickard
  • The flotsam and jetsam are mere shreds and fragments of wasted lives.
  • Extract from : « How the Other Half Lives » by Jacob A. Riis
  • Am I to drift always about the world, a mere piece of flotsam on Swansea tide?
  • Extract from : « An Ocean Tramp » by William McFee
  • There were bits of flotsam, including coconuts that had washed in.
  • Extract from : « The Wailing Octopus » by Harold Leland Goodwin
  • I tell you it was good to sit by the side of that ragged piece of flotsam.
  • Extract from : « A Maid of the Kentucky Hills » by Edwin Carlile Litsey

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019