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
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
Tim Lister, CNN Money, 14 July 2025
For 21 months, Israeli armed forces have been bombing Gaza into a landscape of rubble and buried corpses—a massively disproportionate retaliation for the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed over 1,200 Israelis.
—Daniel R. Depetris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
Buildings and trees appeared to be either completely washed away, or reduced to rubble.
—Rachel Wolf , Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2025
Wave after wave of airstrikes killed hundreds of people and turned vital installations, infrastructure and city neighborhoods into piles of rubble.
—Nabih Bulos
foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2025
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
The Palestinian health ministry reported Sunday that 139 bodies had been brought to Gaza hospitals in the past 24 hours, with a number of victims still under the rubble.
—Tim Lister, CNN Money, 14 July 2025
For 21 months, Israeli armed forces have been bombing Gaza into a landscape of rubble and buried corpses—a massively disproportionate retaliation for the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed over 1,200 Israelis.
—Daniel R. Depetris, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 July 2025
Buildings and trees appeared to be either completely washed away, or reduced to rubble.
—Rachel Wolf , Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2025
Wave after wave of airstrikes killed hundreds of people and turned vital installations, infrastructure and city neighborhoods into piles of rubble.
—Nabih Bulos
foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 5 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for rubble
Cite this Entry
“Rubble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rubble. Accessed 21 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share