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

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 rubble is already being cleared for a new administration. —Mohammed R. Mhawish, New Yorker, 14 Oct. 2025

News footage showed Red Cross vehicles traveling through the rubble of Gaza on route to an Israeli military base in Southern Israel. —Ted Johnson, Deadline, 13 Oct. 2025

Over 67,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 169,000 also injured in the time since, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and health officials said over the weekend that more bodies are being discovered under the rubble in areas where the Israeli army has withdrawn. —Richard Hall, Time, 12 Oct. 2025

There are piles of rubble and tangles of cable. —Jack Lang, New York Times, 11 Oct. 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