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

Clearing rubble and then rebuilding are the biggest source of emissions in any war. —Brian Lee, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026

Emergency workers sift through rubble of a residential building that was hit in an airstrike Friday in Tehran. —Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 1 Apr. 2026

Satellite images indicate that the Iranians subsequently broke through the rubble to open the tunnel entrances, perhaps to gain access to the nuclear materials. —Sheena Samu, CBS News, 27 Mar. 2026

One rescue worker discovered the bodies of his own family underneath the rubble of a building destroyed by a strike, Martinez said. —Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 27 Mar. 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