rubble

Broken pieces of stone, brick, or other material left when something is damaged or destroyed.

• The street was covered in rubble.
• Rescuers pulled a child from the rubble.
• Workers cleared piles of rubble after the demolition.

Similar words: debris, wreckage

Common phrases: pile of rubble, clear the rubble, beneath the rubble

A layer of broken local rock lying beneath soil carried there by water.

• The drill reached a layer of rubble.
• Rubble lay beneath the river deposits.
• The geologist examined rubble from the nearby bedrock.

Common phrases: layer of rubble, buried rubble

To break something into small pieces of stone or similar material, or become such pieces.

• The blast rubbled the wall.
• Workers rubbled the old concrete foundation.
• The weakened stone rubbled under the hammer.

Similar words: break up, crumble

Common phrases: rubble the wall, rubble the concrete