ship·wreck
ˈship-ˌrek 
1
: a wrecked ship or its parts
2
: the destruction or loss of a ship
3
: an irretrievable loss or failure
shipwrecked; shipwrecking; shipwrecks
1
a
: to cause to experience shipwreck
b
: ruin
2
: to destroy (a ship) by grounding or foundering
Examples of shipwreck in a Sentence
Noun
Only a few sailors survived the shipwreck.
The crew narrowly avoided shipwreck.
Divers searched the sunken shipwreck.
Verb
the yachtsman fell asleep at the wheel and shipwrecked his ketch on the rocks
Recent Examples on the Web
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 July 2025
Adventurous divers will enjoy exploring the HTMS Chang wreck, Thailand’s most famous and largest shipwreck dive site.
—Asia London Palomba, Travel + Leisure, 19 July 2025
Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 28 July 2025
Epic story of perseverance and hope follows a 16-year-old boy who is shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and survives on a lifeboat with four companions: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger.
—Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for shipwreck
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Noun
Quick fact: How Belgian shipwrecks are protected Shipwrecks in Belgium’s part of the North Sea that are more than 100 years old are automatically classified as cultural heritage.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 July 2025
Adventurous divers will enjoy exploring the HTMS Chang wreck, Thailand’s most famous and largest shipwreck dive site.
—Asia London Palomba, Travel + Leisure, 19 July 2025
Verb
Younger fans have lived through an era when, season by season, one by one, the most valuable player to come out of the academy had to be flogged to stop the club from being financially shipwrecked.
—Daniel Taylor, New York Times, 28 July 2025
Epic story of perseverance and hope follows a 16-year-old boy who is shipwrecked in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and survives on a lifeboat with four companions: a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger.
—Luann Gibbs, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for shipwreck
Cite this Entry
“Shipwreck.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shipwreck. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
shipwreck
1 of 2 noun
ship·wreck
-ˌrek
1
: a wrecked ship
2
: the destruction or loss of a ship
shipwreck
2 of 2 verb1
: to cause to experience shipwreck
a storm that shipwrecked the sailors
2
: to destroy (a ship) by driving ashore or sinking
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