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

One club even picked up and left town, though the arrival of two new franchises — one debuting in the spring and another announced to begin play next year — provided a glimmer of hope amid the rubble of 2024. —Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 31 Dec. 2024

Amid the rubble, residents struggle to rebuild their lives. —Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2024

Verb

It’s also reduced much of the coastal strip to rubble in a war that’s been heavily condemned around the globe. —Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 26 Oct. 2024

In the past year, the Turkish military has reduced Kurdish cities to rubble for the first time since Ataturk’s rule. —Halil Karaveli, Foreign Affairs, 17 Oct. 2016

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