rubble

1 of 2

noun

rub·ble ˈrə-bəl

Synonyms of rubble

: broken fragments (as of rock) resulting from the decay or destruction of a building

… fortifications knocked into rubble.—C. S. Forester

: a miscellaneous confused mass or group of usually broken or worthless things

: waterworn or rough broken stones or bricks used in coarse masonry or in filling courses of walls

: 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

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

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Noun

Greg Hernandez separates materials from a pile of rubble during the teardown of the Cabrini-Green projects at 1157 and 1159 Cleveland Ave. — Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 27 Oct. 2026 Rescue operations are underway as there are reports that people may be trapped under the rubble. — ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026 Filling them with black smoke, with rubble and shattered glass, with frantic firefighters, with civilians huddled at the police line, necks craned. — Literary Hub, 26 Oct. 2026 Hours later, a group of rescuers in hard hats were using poles stripped from trees to poke at the huge pile of rubble. — Arkansas Online, 24 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for rubble

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

Time Traveler

The first known use of rubble was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Rubble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubble. Accessed 1 Nov. 2026.

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Kids Definition

rubble

noun

rub·ble

ˈrəb-əl

: rough broken stones or bricks used in building

: a confused mass of rough or broken things

rubble

noun

verb

Synonyms of rubble

Examples of rubble in a Sentence

Word History

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Kids Definition

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rubble

noun

verb

Synonyms of rubble

Examples of rubble in a Sentence

Word History

Rhymes for rubble

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Kids Definition

More from Merriam-Webster on rubble

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