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

The missiles turned the facility into a skeleton of twisted metal and rubble, according to a photo and video footage reviewed by Fortune. —Jessica Mathews, Fortune, 21 Dec. 2025

Artificial reefs, created by scuttling ships, sinking oil rigs, or dropping rubble into the sea, have long been known to improve aquatic life, so perhaps these findings are unsurprising. —Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 19 Dec. 2025

The hope is to survive, dig out of the rubble and enjoy a few weeks of sun before the winds begin to blow again. —Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 17 Dec. 2025

How the rubble and everything just shatters on screen needs to match what these characters are doing, and that was a lot of fun to design. —Ryan Fleming, Deadline, 17 Dec. 2025

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