1
a
: broken fragments (as of rock) resulting from the decay or destruction of a building
fortifications knocked into rubble—
C. S. Forester
C. 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
Synonyms
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
Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
The Colosseum stands strong as the rest of ancient Rome lies in rubble.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024
Mohammad Al Sawalhi, CNN, 18 Aug. 2024
On Our Radar -Once on track for Forbes’ Billionaires list, record-making producer Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is facing a long and growing list of allegations that have reduced his empire to rubble.
—Zoya Hasan, Forbes, 27 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for rubble 
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
Here's why At one point he’s basically indentured to almost comically evil thieves, who force him to crawl through small spaces in the rubble to steal for them.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 5 Nov. 2024
The Colosseum stands strong as the rest of ancient Rome lies in rubble.
—Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024
Verb
Israel’s campaign in Gaza – launched following the Hamas attacks of October 7 – has killed more than 40,000 people and reduced much of the territory to rubble.
—Mohammad Al Sawalhi, CNN, 18 Aug. 2024
On Our Radar -Once on track for Forbes’ Billionaires list, record-making producer Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is facing a long and growing list of allegations that have reduced his empire to rubble.
—Zoya Hasan, Forbes, 27 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for rubble
Dictionary Entries Near rubble
Cite this Entry
“Rubble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubble. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share