cobble
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to mend (shoes, boots, etc.); patch.
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to put together roughly or clumsily.
noun
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a cobblestone.
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cobbles, coal in lumps larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder.
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Metalworking.
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a defect in a rolled piece resulting from loss of control over its movement.
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Slang. a piece showing bad workmanship.
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verb (used with object)
noun
noun
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short for cobblestone
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geology a rock fragment, often rounded, with a diameter of 64–256 mm and thus smaller than a boulder but larger than a pebble
verb
verb
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to make or mend (shoes)
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to put together clumsily
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cobble1
First recorded in 1490–1500; apparently back formation from cobbler
Origin of cobble2
First recorded in 1595–1605; of uncertain origin; perhaps cob + -le; see cobblestone
Origin of cobble3
First recorded in 1885–95; perhaps from cobble 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Other children at the shelter kick a ball around while their parents make use of food donations to cobble together meals for their little ones.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
Most parents lose sleep over the amount of piecemeal work required to cobble together a summer schedule; very few relish the planning and spreadsheets and carpool rota involved in keeping their kids safe and occupied.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026
To cobble together the package of content you want requires subscribing to multiple services at ever-increasing cost.
From MarketWatch ● May 28, 2026
He was an unremarkable, middle-of-the-rotation starter with enough talent to cobble together a decent major-league career.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026
A person who had no one would be well advised to cobble together some passable ghost.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
At night, the narrow cobbled streets of Old Havana are enveloped in inky black, devoid of power and virtually deserted.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
“It seemed like they just cobbled up these ideas at the last minute,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
You can still find vestiges of that past in the cobbled alleyways lined with pastel townhouses once owned by sea captains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
A leather factory worker in Minnesota who had fled El Salvador, Aguilar cobbled together the money in installments through loans from friends and that year’s tax refund.
From Salon ● May 2, 2026
Luke didn’t say much, not then or the next morning when Toby woke up and Luke had somehow cobbled together enough money for some frozen waffles.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
She has approached smaller foundations like the Rose Foundation, an environmental group based in Oakland, in hopes of cobbling together enough smaller pots of money for a large project.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
Belgium's complex political system means that De Wever is well versed in the art of painstaking negotiations and cobbling together compromise deals.
From Barron's ● Dec. 17, 2025
It was essentially cobbling together a Frankenstein résumé from leftover pieces of information harvested from my search history, and passing it off as my own work experience.
From Slate ● Oct. 6, 2025
Time is tight and the bar is high – cobbling together 80 people willing to back you in a handful of days isn't easy.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2025
So he did his first experiment at the University of Utah by cobbling together about $30 in parts.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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