rubble

Everyday

1. Broken pieces of stone, brick and concrete left when a building falls down or is knocked down. tree →
2. Rough broken stones used to fill gaps or make a base for a path or wall. tree →

In the lessons

In news and history (earthquakes, wars, bombing in the Blitz), rubble shows destruction; rescuers search the rubble for survivors. In building, rubble is used as hardcore under paths. Phrases: «reduced to rubble», «pile of rubble», «search the rubble», «buried under rubble».

Examples

• After the earthquake, houses were reduced to rubble. tree →
• Rescuers dug through the rubble to find survivors. tree →
• The old factory is now just a pile of rubble. tree →
• During the war, many cities were full of rubble. tree →
• Builders used rubble to fill the hole. tree →
• The dog sniffed the rubble for people trapped inside. tree →

Note

Uncountable: «a pile of rubble», not «a rubble». Safety: never play on building sites or in rubble; it can collapse. Similar: debris, wreckage, ruins.