rubble

1 of 2

noun

rub·​ble ˈrə-bəl How to pronounce rubble (audio)
1
a
: broken fragments (as of rock) resulting from the decay or destruction of a building
fortifications knocked into rubbleC. 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 How to pronounce rubble (audio)

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
Noun
In a separate strike in eastern Rafah on Saturday, 14 members of the same family were killed, and as many as 10 others were trapped under rubble. D. Parvaz, NPR, 4 Mar. 2024 Drone imagery also shows quad bikes, also known as ATVs, aflame in the daylight, on empty, ghostly plains of rubble and carcasses. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, 29 Feb. 2024 The boys were not in an Israeli prison, or dead in the West Bank, or under the rubble in Gaza. Rozina Ali, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2024 The Fire Department is still on the scene, searching through the debris and rubble that remains of the home. Detroit Free Press, 27 Feb. 2024 What was once a pool in the back of the property is now filled with rubble. Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 26 Feb. 2024 The body of a security guard was later found in the rubble. Katya Soldak, Forbes, 19 Feb. 2024 Shopping centers, schools, hotels, homes and hospitals have been targets of Russian missile strikes, turning buildings into rubble and leaving nearly 3.7 million people displaced inside the country, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2024 The ministry added that over 69,000 people have also been injured since the war began and a number of victims are still under rubble with Israeli forces restricting access for the emergency services. NBC News, 20 Feb. 2024
Verb
Israel's air, sea and ground offensive has reduced much of densely populated northern Gaza to rubble. Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 3 Mar. 2024 Israel’s air, sea and ground offensive has reduced much of densely populated northern Gaza to rubble. Samy Magdy, Twin Cities, 2 Mar. 2024 A day earlier, a Russian Iskander ballistic missile turned a village café and store to rubble in Hroza, a village in eastern Ukraine, killing dozens of civilians, according to Ukrainian officials. Hanna Arhirova The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2023 The war has reduced much of the enclave to rubble and caused what the U.N. has called a humanitarian catastrophe. Fox News, 19 Feb. 2024 Her husband bulldozed the building and reduced it to rubble forever. Kira Caspers, The Arizona Republic, 14 Feb. 2024 Israel says the war in Gaza, which has reduced much of the territory to rubble, killing thousands and plunging its 2.3 million people into a humanitarian disaster, has many months to go. NBC News, 2 Jan. 2024 Outside, the tornado had turned the farm's 103-year-old barn to rubble and strewn debris across the fields for hundreds of yards. Todd Richmond and Scott Bauer The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 10 Feb. 2024 In 1958, up to 100 sticks of dynamite planted in the high school reduced it to rubble. Elizabeth Williamson, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rubble.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Dictionary Entries Near rubble

Cite this Entry

“Rubble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubble. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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

More from Merriam-Webster on rubble

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