Wrecks

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The process of causing extensive damage to physical objects often results in their total impairment or destruction Events that lead to the disintegration of vehicles or structures leave behind unserviceable remnants Serious destruction usually yields items that can no longer function as intended or are irreparably harmed
2. Causes severe harm or ruin to something, often making it unusable ; the leftover parts of something after it has been badly damaged or destroyed
3. Inflicts extensive damage that compromises the integrity or functionality of an item ; debris or fragments left behind following complete or partial destruction

Etymology: The plural "wrecks" comes from the noun "wreck," which entered Middle English through Anglo-Norman from Old Norse, where "vrek" meant goods cast ashore or stranded at sea. Its deeper ancestor was a verb meaning "to pursue," the same root that gave English "wreak," which once meant to drive out or avenge. The sense of wreckage slowly shifted from the pursuit of something to the thing left behind. The surprise is that the word's oldest sense had nothing to do with destruction. Its ancestors meant to track, hunt, or follow, and the idea of cast-off goods on a shore grew out of that Norse maritime vocabulary. Only later did "wreck" come to mean a ruined ship and then any badly damaged object or structure.

Synonyms: ruins, destroyed places, debris, wreckage

Antonyms: restorations, repairs