1
a
: broken fragments (as of rock) resulting from the decay or destruction of a building
fortifications knocked into rubble—
C. S. Forester
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
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
Mohammad Yunus Yawar, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2025
In Rimal, quiet Palestinians looked through the rubble after a strike, some venturing into the upper floors of shattered buildings that were still standing.
—Arkansas Online, 1 Sep. 2025
Escalating military pressure abandons the living hostages to their fate and leaves the bodies of those already dead buried forever in Gaza’s rubble.
—Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 30 Aug. 2025
Firefighters douse flames at a residential building while rescuers search the rubble for victims after a Russian ballistic missile strike on August 28, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
—Robert Birsel
shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rubble
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Noun
At least 1,124 people have died, 3,251 have been injured and over 8,000 houses have been destroyed, said the Afghan Red Crescent Society, a humanitarian group working in the region, adding that more people are feared trapped under rubble.
—Mohammad Yunus Yawar, USA Today, 2 Sep. 2025
In Rimal, quiet Palestinians looked through the rubble after a strike, some venturing into the upper floors of shattered buildings that were still standing.
—Arkansas Online, 1 Sep. 2025
Escalating military pressure abandons the living hostages to their fate and leaves the bodies of those already dead buried forever in Gaza’s rubble.
—Amelie Botbol, FOXNews.com, 30 Aug. 2025
Firefighters douse flames at a residential building while rescuers search the rubble for victims after a Russian ballistic missile strike on August 28, 2025 in Kyiv, Ukraine.
—Robert Birsel
shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 29 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for rubble
Cite this Entry
“Rubble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubble. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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