Flotsam vs. Jetsam — What's the Difference?

The wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on or washed up by the sea.

Goods that are cast overboard from a ship, especially in an attempt to lighten the ship, and that sink to the bottom of a body of water.

Goods floating on the surface of a body of water after a shipwreck or after being cast overboard to lighten the ship.

Discarded odds and ends.

Discarded or unimportant things

Articles thrown overboard from a ship or boat in order to lighten the load of a ship in distress.

People who are considered to be worthless or to have been rejected by society.

(by extension) Discarded odds and ends.

Debris floating in a river or sea, in particular fragments from a shipwreck.

Goods which sink when cast into the sea, and remain under water; - distinguished from flotsam, goods which float, and ligan (or lagan), goods which are sunk attached to a buoy.

Goods lost by shipwreck, and floating on the sea; - in distinction from jetsam or jetson.

The act of throwing objects from a ship to lighten the load; jettison{1}. See Jettison, 1.

The floating wreckage of a ship

Anything thrown overboard from a ship, whether floating or not.

Objects scattered about in a disorderly manner; as, he couldn't find his sneakers among the jetsam in his room.

The part of a ship's equipment or cargo that is thrown overboard to lighten the load in a storm

The floating wreckage of a ship