shipwreck

• shipwrack (obsolete)

From Middle English shipwrak, from Old English sċipwræc (“jetsam”), equivalent to ship +‎ wrack. Cognate with Scots schip-wrak (“to shipwreck”, verb), Swedish skeppsvrak (“shipwreck”), Danish skibsvrag (“shipwreck”). Modern form is due to influence from wreck.

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃɪpɹɛk/

shipwreck (countable and uncountable, plural shipwrecks)

1. A ship that has sunk or run aground so that it is no longer seaworthy.
   • 1670, John Dryden, William D'Avenant, The Tempest:

     heaven will drive shipwrecks ashore to make us all rich

2. (countable, uncountable) An event where a ship sinks or runs aground.
   • 1688, John Dryden, The Life of St Francis Xavier:

     they made the coast of Cochin China, and the tempests, which rose at the same time, threatened them more than once with shipwreck

3. (figurative) destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 1 Timothy 1:19:

     Holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck.

   • 1879, John Morley, Burke:

     It was upon an Indian bill that the late ministry had made shipwreck.

• shipbreach

• shipwrecky

shipwreck (third-person singular simple present shipwrecks, present participle shipwrecking, simple past and past participle shipwrecked)

1. To wreck a boat through a collision or mishap.

• castaway