rubble

1 of 2

noun

rub·​ble ˈrə-bəl 

1

a

: broken fragments (as of rock) resulting from the decay or destruction of a building

fortifications knocked into rubble

—C. S. Forester

b

: a miscellaneous confused mass or group of usually broken or worthless things

2

: waterworn or rough broken stones or bricks used in coarse masonry or in filling courses of walls

3

: rough stone as it comes from the quarry

rubble

2 of 2

verb

rubbled; rubbling ˈrə-b(ə-)liŋ 

transitive verb

: to reduce to rubble

Synonyms

Noun

• ashes
• debris
• detritus
• flotsam
• remains
• residue
• ruins
• wreck
• wreckage

Examples of rubble in a Sentence

Noun

Rescue workers managed to pull two injured people out of the rubble.

The earthquake reduced the whole town to rubble.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Rescuers pulled 10 bodies from the rubble, including two parents and their two children, the service confirmed. —Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 16 Dec. 2024

Over 105,000 people have been wounded, and thousands remain under rubble, the ministry said in a statement. —NBC News, 3 Dec. 2024

Verb

Israeli attacks have turned much of Gaza to rubble and caused humanitarian and health crises. —Wafaa Shurafa, Los Angeles Times, 7 Sep. 2024

Flattened in a year: How Israeli bombardment reduced most of Gaza to rubble In March, the Israeli military laid siege to that medical complex for a third time, alleging that Hamas was using it as a command center – something that Hamas denied. —Mick Krever, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English robyl

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1944, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

rubble

noun

rub·​ble

ˈrəb-əl

1

: rough broken stones or bricks used in building

2

: a confused mass of rough or broken things