Rubble Is Also a Building Technique
Rubble is broken stone or debris. Masonry uses the word for a deliberate technique, not just wreckage.
Rubble is broken stone, brick or concrete. Masonry treats it as a method rather than a mess: *rubble walling* uses rough undressed stone, either laid in courses or fitted randomly, and much of Britain's vernacular building is rubble construction. Roman concrete used rubble as its aggregate, which is part of why it survives.
- Broken stone or debris. *Reduced to rubble.*
- Rough building stone. *A rubble wall.*
- Rubble masonry — building with undressed stone. *Coursed rubble masonry.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | rubble | Piles of rubble. |
| Adjective | rubbly | Rubbly ground. |
| Related | rubbish | Household rubbish. |
| Related | hardcore | Compacted hardcore. |
| Related | aggregate | Concrete aggregate. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Coursed rubble is laid in rough layers.Random rubble is not.
- Roman concrete used rubble aggregate.With volcanic ash.
- Hardcore is crushed rubble under a slab.Building.
Rubble in building
- Random rubble — stones of varied size fitted without courses
- Coursed rubble — roughly levelled into layers
- Snecked rubble — small stones filling gaps between larger ones
- Hardcore — crushed material compacted as a base
- Rubble core — the fill between two dressed stone faces in a thick wall
Of uncertain origin, probably related to *rubbish*, which came from Anglo-French and is itself of obscure ancestry.
What is random rubble walling?
Building with undressed stones of varied size fitted together without regular courses, common in vernacular architecture.
Are rubble and rubbish related?
Probably. Both are of obscure origin and appear connected, though the exact relationship has not been established.