瓦礫(がれき)

がれき
noun
rubble; debris; wreckage
buildingsociety
1. rubble; debris; wreckage
The broken concrete, tiles, timber and other material left when a building collapses. Strongly associated with earthquakes, fires, and war damage.
瓦礫(がれき)を片付(かたづ)ける。
They clear away the rubble.
町(まち)は瓦礫(がれき)の山(やま)になっていた。
The town had been reduced to mountains of rubble.
救助隊(きゅうじょたい)は瓦礫(がれき)の下(した)に取(と)り残(のこ)された人(ひと)を探(さが)し続(つづ)けた。
The rescue team kept searching for people trapped under the rubble.

Written 瓦(が) (roof tile) + 礫(れき) (small stone), but very often written がれき in kana, including in newspaper headlines, because 礫(れき) is outside the common-use kanji list.

Common collocations

Similar words

  • 残骸(ざんがい): wreckage, remains — used of a single destroyed object such as a plane or a car
  • ゴミ: trash — ordinary refuse, with no sense of destruction

Related Words

Compare: 残骸(ざんがい) (wreckage, remains)
Compare: ゴミ (trash)
Compare: 散乱物(さんらんぶつ) (scattered objects)
Compare: 土石(どせき) (earth and stone)
general
Added 2026.8.9 12:19 · Revised 2026.9.6 9:21
30500/30524_gareki