Definition of shipwreck

• n. - 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.
• n. - A ship wrecked or destroyed upon the water, or the parts of such a ship; wreckage.
• n. - Fig.: Destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss.
• v. t. - 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.
• v. t. - 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.