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

Trading for Penning is the equivalent of cleaning up the rubble. —Daniel Popper, New York Times, 5 Nov. 2025

Once secured, these areas can commence clearing rubble, removing unexploded munitions, and restoring basic services. —Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025

In Hula, Chreim's three-story house is now a pile of stone rubble and twisted iron. —Jane Arraf, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025

The catastrophe, which took place about noon local time, sent one person working on a medieval tower to a hospital while another remained trapped under rubble and debris at the Torre dei Conti. —Natalie Neysa Alund, USA Today, 3 Nov. 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