as in to interrogate
to officially ask (someone) about a job that has been done or about an experience
Police debriefed the hostages upon their return. The pilot was debriefed after his flight.
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Recent Examples of debrief
Shortly thereafter, Dowd found herself inside the FBI’s resident agency in Brevard County, where she was debriefed by a special agent.
—
Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
Chapman, who worked long hours debriefing Marquez over the years and shepherded his grand jury testimony, grew emotional while talking about Marquez’s qualities as a wonky engineer who could talk endlessly about the inner workings of the ComEd’s electrical grid.
—Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2026
Editor Joyce Eng discuss the new name for the SAG Awards, the Actor Awards, and Gerrad debriefs on the Governors Awards.
—Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Dec. 2025
Health care workers may dip into depression and substance abuse, and Rau seeks to counter that by debriefing his staff after tragedies and encouraging them to reach out to one another.
—Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 29 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debrief
Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, 19 Mar. 2026
Chapman, who worked long hours debriefing Marquez over the years and shepherded his grand jury testimony, grew emotional while talking about Marquez’s qualities as a wonky engineer who could talk endlessly about the inner workings of the ComEd’s electrical grid.
—Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 19 Feb. 2026
Editor Joyce Eng discuss the new name for the SAG Awards, the Actor Awards, and Gerrad debriefs on the Governors Awards.
—Gerrad Hall, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Dec. 2025
Health care workers may dip into depression and substance abuse, and Rau seeks to counter that by debriefing his staff after tragedies and encouraging them to reach out to one another.
—Andy Sheehan, CBS News, 29 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debrief
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debrief
Verb
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Anthropic has a habit of using dramatic, alarming-sounding language that can be tough to interrogate cleanly, including flirting with the idea that its Claude model might be conscious.—
Robert Hart,
The Verge,
23 Apr. 2026
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The Louisiana Republican chairs one of the Senate committees that oversees Kennedy's department and sits on another, giving him two chances to interrogate the secretary about his plans for an agency responsible for public health programs and research.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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With the third-year pro also coming off a subpar 2025 campaign, Wells’ offensive capabilities have been the subject of questioning in recent weeks and months.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
26 Apr. 2026
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The Republican has built a reputation in part due to his willingness to question the federal government’s role in releasing classified information.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The film examines the generation who never expected to become senior citizens in the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and decades of oppression, who now find themselves trailblazers again as the first openly LGBTQ seniors.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
29 Apr. 2026
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Engineers will examine the capsule’s heat shield in more detail along with everything else in preparation for next year’s Artemis III docking demo in orbit around Earth.—
Marcia Dunn,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Debrief.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debrief. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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