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 disbelief at billowing black smoke from a gash in the Pentagon and collapsing skyscrapers of steel, the dread over what attacks might yet come, the hope that people might be pulled from the rubble alive. — Ann Gerhart, Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2026

Images of the smoldering rubble, of Manhattan streets blanketed in ash and the sheets of paper that remained of so many working lives, of American flags hung from windows and car antennas, continued to fill our screens. — Culture Critic, Los Angeles Times, 10 Sep. 2026

But teams continue to search through rubble and debris collected from the World Trade Center site. — Brian Mann, NPR, 10 Sep. 2026

Now, of course, Rimal has been reduced to a field of endless rubble. — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 10 Sep. 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