rubble
Americannoun
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broken bits and pieces of anything, as that which is demolished.
Bombing reduced the town to rubble.
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any solid substance, as ice, in irregularly broken pieces.
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rough fragments of broken stone, formed by geological processes, in quarrying, etc., and sometimes used in masonry.
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masonry built of rough fragments of broken stone.
noun
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fragments of broken stones, bricks, etc
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any fragmented solid material, esp the debris from ruined buildings
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quarrying the weathered surface layer of rock
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Also called: rubblework. masonry constructed of broken pieces of rock, stone, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rubble
1350–1400; Middle English rubel, robil < ?; cf. rubbish
Explanation
The pile of crumbled debris that's left over after something breaks or collapses is rubble. Famous scenes of rubble include the fallen Twin Towers on September 11 and the remains of the Haitian capital after the 2010 earthquake. Rubble rhymes with "bubble," but when a bubble bursts, it just dissolves into liquid, while rubble is piles of rock, concrete, brick, and other remains that are a very physical reminder of destruction. Rock slides create rubble from rocks, and natural disasters and explosions create rubble from buildings, cars, and trees. Unfortunately, rubble is usually heavy and can trap people or things beneath it, as when bodies are found in the rubble of a fire or earthquake.
Vocabulary lists containing rubble
"There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury (1950)
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Milkweed
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"The End and the Beginning," Vocabulary from the poem
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In particular, the moon's irregular appearance resembles what scientists call a rubble pile asteroid, an object made from many pieces of rock held together relatively loosely by gravity.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Dozens of schools were damaged in the worst disaster in the Caribbean country in decades, which reduced hundreds of buildings to rubble.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
One issue is Gaza authorities’ woefully reduced resources to search and retrieve bodies from the rubble.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2026
After many minutes of crawling to try and escape the "hell hole that I was in", Berriff emerged from under the rubble.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Hanako spotted a bustling outside market, right next to a single broken concrete wall and a big pile of rubble.
From "A Place to Belong" by Cynthia Kadohata
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
