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 called: rubblework. masonry constructed of broken pieces of rock, stone, etc

Other Word Forms

• rubbly 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

The images of daily life amid destruction and rubble — children, bicyclists, workers, laundry drying from high floors in a half-destroyed building — hint at an inextinguishable flame carrying on through a campaign of death.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Another person was rescued in the building after being pulled from beneath rubble, they said.

Read more on BBC

Israel has accused Hamas of deliberately delaying the recovery of the hostages' bodies, but Hamas has said it is struggling to find them under rubble.

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Caterpillar’s D9 armored bulldozers—used to clear rubble and destroy residences and other structures—have been ubiquitous.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Now, like so many other parts of Gaza, the area has been reduced to rubble.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• debris