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 of rubble

Noun

• debris
• wreckage
• ruins
• remains
• ashes

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

Families marking Eid in the rubble of homes that no longer exist. —Byron Sigcho-Lopez, Chicago Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026

This is an organization that was born out of the rubble of the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, and which caused the deaths of twenty thousand people. —Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 9 Apr. 2026

Videos shared by reporters of strikes on Lebanon’s capital city show rubble sent flying as buildings were destroyed. —Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, USA Today, 9 Apr. 2026

First responders stand in the rubble in Beirut's Corniche al-Mazraa neighborhood. —Matt Bradley, NBC news, 8 Apr. 2026

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

Rhymes for rubble

• bubble
• double
• stubble
• trouble
• redouble

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