rubble

[ ruhb-uhl roo-buhl ]

noun

1. broken bits and pieces of anything, as that which is demolished:

   Bombing reduced the town to rubble.

2. any solid substance, as ice, in irregularly broken pieces.
3. rough fragments of broken stone, formed by geological processes, in quarrying, etc., and sometimes used in masonry.
4. masonry built of rough fragments of broken stone.

rubble

/ ˈrʌbəl /

noun

1. fragments of broken stones, bricks, etc
2. any fragmented solid material, esp the debris from ruined buildings
3. quarrying the weathered surface layer of rock
4. Also calledrubblework masonry constructed of broken pieces of rock, stone, etc

Derived Forms

• ˈrubbly, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rubble¹

1350–1400; Middle English rubel, robil < ?; rubbish

Word History and Origins

Origin of rubble¹

C14 robyl ; perhaps related to Middle English rubben to rub, or to rubbish

Example Sentences

CAMARILLO, Calif. — Stanley Jensen worked with firefighters to break open a melted safe amid the rubble of his family’s home.

From Los Angeles Times

Some houses, seemingly scattered at random, were reduced to rubble with only a lifeless moonscape left behind.

From Los Angeles Times

He reached the spot, moved some of the rubble, then held something up that could not be identified from distance.

From BBC

A young man climbed on to the mound of rubble.

From BBC

In the northern town of Ain Yaaqou, Lebanon’s Civil Defence agency said its first responders had recovered the bodies of 16 people, including four Syrian refugees, from the rubble of a residential building that was destroyed by an air strike on Monday night.

From BBC

Related Words

• debris