瓦が礫れき

also: がりゃく

が

れ

き

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

The main modern sense: broken pieces left after a building, road, vehicle, etc. has been destroyed. It can literally suggest tiles, stones, and fragments.

地じ震しんで倒たおれた建たて物ものの瓦が礫れきが道どう路ろをふさいでいた。
Rubble from the building that collapsed in the earthquake was blocking the road.
救きゅう助じょ隊たいは瓦が礫れきの下したに人ひとがいないか確かく認にんした。
The rescue team checked whether anyone was under the debris.

noun

junk; rubbish; worthless trash

Less common and often dismissive or figurative: something treated as worthless rubbish. For ordinary household trash, ごみ is the normal word.

彼かれはその古ふるい機き械かいを瓦が礫れき同どう然ぜんだと言いった。
He said the old machine was no better than junk.

See all 22 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

瓦が礫れきの下したに埋うずまるto be buried under rubble
地じ震しんの後あと、多おおくの人ひとが瓦が礫れきの下したに埋うずまっていた。
After the earthquake, many people were buried under the rubble.
瓦が礫れきを撤てっ去きょするto clear away rubble
作さ業ぎょう員いんたちが崩くずれたビルの瓦が礫れきを撤てっ去きょした。
The workers cleared away the rubble from the collapsed building.
瓦が礫れきと化かすto be reduced to rubble
爆ばく撃げきで街まち全ぜん体たいが瓦が礫れきと化かした。
The entire town was reduced to rubble by the bombing.
瓦が礫れきの山やまa pile (mountain) of rubble
台たい風ふうが去さった後あと、通とおりには瓦が礫れきの山やまができていた。
After the typhoon passed, there was a mountain of rubble in the street.

Kanji

瓦tile, gram
礫small stones

Related words

残ざん骸がい sense 1
残骸 emphasizes the identifiable remains of a specific destroyed object like a car or plane, while 瓦礫 refers to scattered broken fragments such as tiles and concrete.
がらくた sense 2
がらくた is the everyday word for useless junk or odds and ends around the house, whereas 瓦礫 specifically means rubble left from destruction.
ごみN5sense 2
ごみ is the ordinary word for garbage or trash in daily life, while 瓦礫 is mainly used for rubble from a collapsed or destroyed structure.
がれ
がれ refers specifically to natural rock fragments accumulated on a slope, while 瓦礫 is broader debris or rubble, often from destroyed buildings.

Written forms

瓦礫Usage83%
- がれき
  Standard kanji spelling with the modern common reading がれき.
- がりゃく
  out-dated reading
  Attested but marked as an outdated kana usage; included mainly for recognition in older or dictionary contexts.
がれきUsage10%
Kana spelling is also seen, especially when avoiding the difficult kanji 礫 or in learner-facing text.
ガレキUsage7%
がりゃく
out-dated reading

Etymology

The spelling combines 瓦, 'tile,' and 礫, 'small stone; pebble,' matching the older concrete idea of tiles and pebbles or broken fragments. This is a useful component explanation rather than a precise historical derivation.