Smithereens

Definitions

Fragments or splintered pieces; numerous tiny disconnected items.

informal, plural, plural-only

Equivalents

Examples

“The urn shattered into smithereens the moment it hit the ground.”

“When the waiter dropped the platter, one smithereen struck him above the knee, and the four remaining smithereens scattered across the floor.”

“The world's smallest violin / Really needs an audience / So if I do not find⟳ somebody soon (That's right, that's right) / I'll blow⟳ up into smithereens”

“However, something once happened on the railway there which showed the very best of mankind: heroism, duty, self-sacrifice and calm professionalism under terrible pressure. It is a story which gives us far, far better reasons for remembering this attractive little town, which without these heroes would have⟳ been blown to smithereens in a gigantic explosion. (Two railwaymen lost their lives in 1944 when a wagon in an ammunition train⟳ caught fire and blew up, an even worse disaster was averted however.)”

CEFR level