Word Definition

Shipwreck

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Fig.: Destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss.
  4. A ship wrecked or destroyed upon the water, or the parts of such a ship; wreckage.
  5. 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.