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.-a ship wrecked or destroyed upon the water, or the parts of such a ship; wreckage.-fig.: destruction; ruin; irretrievable loss.-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.-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.