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

When 209 was hit, the interrogators were caught under the rubble and the prisoners now had a chance to escape … because the walls were destroyed and the door was destroyed. —David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 6 Jan. 2026

An additional 684 people have been found dead in the rubble strewn across Gaza during the same period. —Wafaa Shurafa, Los Angeles Times, 5 Jan. 2026

Now, all that’s left is to pick up the pieces from the rubble of this season. —Jeff Zrebiec, New York Times, 5 Jan. 2026

Wilman González, left with a black eye from a blast, picked through rubble at home, surrounded by broken furniture. —Regina Garcia Cano, Fortune, 4 Jan. 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