cobble
1 Americanverb (used with object)
-
to mend (shoes, boots, etc.); patch.
-
to put together roughly or clumsily.
noun
-
a cobblestone.
-
cobbles, coal in lumps larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder.
-
Metalworking.
-
a defect in a rolled piece resulting from loss of control over its movement.
-
Slang. a piece showing bad workmanship.
-
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
-
to make or mend (shoes)
-
to put together clumsily
noun
-
short for cobblestone
-
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
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:
So an array of contractors built the wall out of stone and cobble in the dead of winter without a permit.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 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
The “gig economy” entered the lingo in 2009, as increasing numbers of people tried to cobble two or more part-time, no-benefit “gigs” into a living wage.
From Barron's ● May 20, 2026
When she finally got a fire going, she set about trying to cobble together an evening meal for Harry and the boys.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
When pitching “Sterling Point” to Amazon executives, Park said she used a sizzle reel cobbled together from home videos filmed in Muskoka.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
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
Beneath are the roofs and cobbled streets of the medieval Old Town, where ancient pubs stand among jewelers specializing in local jet.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
"It's kind of a Frankenstein's monster of a policy change that's been kind of cobbled together," he said.
From BBC ● Apr. 12, 2026
They strode through densely packed cobbled streets, with sea-stained buildings rising alongside, glimmering in the fading light.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
Their company has been prolific at cobbling together oil-rich acreage and flipping it to other energy producers in multibillion-dollar deals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Cities are also cobbling together constellations of pocket parks in heart-of-the-city neighborhoods, a fraction of an acre here and there, enough, maybe, for a picnic table or a play space.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 6, 2026
Surprised by this unusual cobbling together of Hindu and Muslim names, the vigilantes left.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 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
Workers scrambled to get the pumping system back online, patching the hoses that could be salvaged and cobbling together any new hoses they could find to replace the ones that could not.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
