Definition of "jetsam" []

• Cargo or equipment thrown overboard to lighten a ship in distress. (noun)
• Discarded cargo or equipment found washed ashore. See Usage Note at flotsam. (noun)
• Discarded odds and ends. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "And I’d argue that his ability to nose out a story and piece it together from all the flotsam and jetsam is just what we’ve been missing in national journalism."
• "The noun is also the source of the word "jetsam" ( "jettisoned goods"), which is often paired with"
• "While there are trained artists--perhaps inspired by Gaudí's early 20th-century mosaics or Marcel Duchamp's readymades--who sculpt and construct large-scale artworks made from repurposed cast offs, many more are dreamers with ordinary day jobs who abhor waste, have a penchant for collecting, and seize upon an unstoppable urge to create something beautiful from the flotsam and jetsam modern life."