SHIPWRECK • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Shipwreck

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/ʃˈɪprɛk/ Listen

noun

Shipwreck n.

The breaking in pieces, or shattering, of a ship or other vessel by being cast ashore or driven against rocks, shoals, etc., by the violence of the winds and waves.

A ship wrecked or destroyed upon the water, or the parts of such a ship; wreckage.

Fig.: Destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss. "Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck." "It was upon an Indian bill that the late ministry had made shipwreck."

verb

Shipwreck v. t. (past & past part. shipwrecked; pres. part. shipwrecking)

To destroy, as a ship at sea, by running ashore or on rocks or sandbanks, or by the force of wind and waves in a tempest. "Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break."

To cause to experience shipwreck, as sailors or passengers. Hence, to cause to suffer some disaster or loss; to destroy or ruin, as if by shipwreck; to wreck; as, to shipwreck a business.

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Etymology of 'Shipwreck'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Shipwreck" Quotes from Famous Books

... thought at first that it was the western coast of the lake, but as they swiftly drove nearer Henry saw water both to right and left, and he knew that it was a little island. If they kept a straight course they would strike upon it, but with such violence that shipwreck was inevitable. Strong and agile as they were they might possibly escape with ...

— The Border Watch - A Story of the Great Chief's Last Stand • Joseph A. Altsheler

... depended on that candle! He had read somewhere, in some account of shipwreck, how the survivors had lived for days upon a few candles which one of the passengers had insanely thrown into the long-boat. And here he had been ...

— A Struggle For Life • Thomas Bailey Aldrich

... with more speed before the wind; 110 And in our sight they three were taken up By fishermen of Corinth, as we thought. At length, another ship had seized on us; And, knowing whom it was their hap to save, Gave healthful welcome to their shipwreck'd guests; 115 And would have reft the fishers of their prey, Had not their bark been very slow of sail; And therefore homeward did they bend their course. Thus have you heard me sever'd from my bliss; That by misfortunes was my life prolong'd, 120 To ...

— The Comedy of Errors - The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] • William Shakespeare

... shipwreck is, or should be, ever afterwards a sadder and a wiser man. And Addison continued long to feel subdued and thankful, and could hardly have been more so though he had outlived that shipwreck which bears now the relation to all recent wrecks which "the storm" of November 1703, as we shall ...

— The Poetical Works of Addison; Gay's Fables; and Somerville's Chase • Joseph Addison, John Gay, William Sommerville

... anything more exciting to the imagination than tales of hidden treasure, especially treasure lost at sea. The mystery, the wonder, the adventure, the tragedy, the seemingly boundless possibilities connected with riches lost by shipwreck or war, and yet not gone beyond the hope of recovery, have given rise to a multitude of romantic stories, some of them pure fictions, but many founded more or less ...

— St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 4, February 1878 • Various

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