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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The lime in the rubble left behind after artillery bombardments helped fertilize the plants, which flourished across Belgium and northern France during the war, then largely disappeared once the lime was gone. Freddie Clayton, NBC News, 10 Nov. 2024 Case closed, with what’s left of Sofia’s car and Sal Maroni’s whole corpse lying in the rubble for good measure. Andy Andersen, Vulture, 10 Nov. 2024
Verb
Flattened in a year: How Israeli bombardment reduced most of Gaza to rubble In March, the Israeli military laid siege to that medical complex for a third time, alleging that Hamas was using it as a command center – something that Hamas denied. Mick Krever, CNN, 24 Oct. 2024 Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into tent camps along the coast after entire neighborhoods in many areas were pounded to rubble. Wafaa Shurafa, Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 2024 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

Dictionary Entries Near rubble

Cite this Entry

“Rubble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubble. Accessed 26 Nov. 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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