pebble

American  

[peb-uhl] / ˈpɛb əl /

noun

• pebbles
  plural

1. a small, rounded stone, especially one worn smooth by the action of water.

2. Also called pebble leather. leather that has been given a granulated surface.

3. any granulated or crinkled surface, especially of a textile.

4. a transparent colorless rock crystal used for the lenses of eyeglasses.

5. a lens made from this crystal.

---

verb (used with object)

pebbled, pebbling

1. to prepare (leather) so as to have a granulated surface.

2. to pelt with or as with pebbles.

pebble British  

/ ˈpɛbəl /

noun

1. 1. a small smooth rounded stone, esp one worn by the action of water

   2. geology a rock fragment, often rounded, with a diameter of 4–64 mm and thus smaller than a cobble but larger than a granule

2. 1. a transparent colourless variety of rock crystal, used for making certain lenses

   2. such a lens

3. informal (modifier) (of a lens or of spectacles) thick, with a high degree of magnification or distortion

4. 1. a grainy irregular surface, esp on leather

   2. leather having such a surface

5. informal a troublesome or obstinate person or animal

---

verb

1. to pave, cover, or pelt with pebbles

2. to impart a grainy surface to (leather)

pebble Scientific  

/ pĕb′əl /

1. A rock fragment larger than a granule and smaller than a cobble. Pebbles have a diameter between 4 and 64 mm (0.16 and 2.56 inches) and are often rounded.

---

pebble Idioms  

1. see not the only fish in the sea (pebble on the beach).

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pebbly
  adjective
• unpebbled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pebbles
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of pebble

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pibbil, puble, pobble; compare Old English pæbbel (in placenames), papel-, popel- (in compounds); phonological relations unclear

---

Explanation

Pebbles are the small, round stones you might find on a beach. If you want a pet rock, a smooth pebble would be a good choice. A pebble beach might not be quite as soft underfoot as a sandy one, but pebbles tend to be smooth and rounded — unlike jagged-edged rocks. A beach covered with smooth pebbles is known as a "shingle beach." The origin of the word pebble is a mystery, although some suspect a connection to the Latin papula, "pustule, pimple, or swelling."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pebble pebbles pebbled pebbling

“It’s like throwing a pebble into a pond,” Stavres said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Yet as I wrangled them into my closet, something kept nagging at me like a pebble in an insole: Bernie Sanders’ eye-rolling dismissal outside the Senate elevator.

From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026

The design also weaves Loewe’s pebble texture and On’s signature semitranslucent mesh, bound together with drawstring elastic laces for an athletic shoe with luxury flair.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2025

“You throw a pebble in New York, you hit someone in therapy,” she laughs.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2025

She dug her fingers into the moss, plucked out another pebble, and tossed it in the river.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

The spa doesn’t offer foot massages, but there’s a 30-foot-long “jade stone walk,” with half-dome pebbles imported from Korea, on it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 20, 2026

She carried both pebbles and crystals in her mouth to a wooden platform, where she sorted them into separate groups.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 15, 2026

Think of this as savory frico brittle: buttery Ritz crackers, broken into uneven pebbles and hunks, tossed with Parmesan, herbs and a little fat, then baked until the cheese melts into crisp, golden clusters.

From Salon ● Jul. 14, 2026

Muhammad also painted the pebbles in his yard, the fence -- even his slippers.

From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026

Light trips over pebbles, rocks, dirt...searches for the fewest weeds, fallen branches, and twigs...searches for where brush has been worn away.

From "Paradise on Fire" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Cordoning off their share of terrace was a pane of pebbled glass, through which Kertész could make out the forms of vacationing neighbors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 20, 2026

For curling, ice sheets need a pebbled texture - this is where the surface is sprayed with water so the droplets freeze.

From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026

Women wearing long wigs and ornate traditional dresses milled around a pebbled courtyard, stopping to snap photos under a pavilion, as the melodious strumming of the Chinese zither played in the background.

From Barron's ● Nov. 14, 2025

The skin shares features with ancient and extant reptiles, including a pebbled surface similar to crocodile skin, and hinged regions between epidermal scales that resemble skin structures in snakes and worm lizards.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 11, 2024

It was a short walk and stumble from the back of the Infirmary to the pebbled parking lot.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken

He kept going back, though, and one day curiosity got the better of him when he noticed someone pebbling the ice.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2026

On the job, Wuthrich walks about 10 kilometers a day; because he does the texture pebbling, Callan gets in 12 kilometers.

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2022

The water for the ice is cleaned of impurities by a multi-tank reverse osmosis system; the water for the pebbling has also been de-ionized.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2022

Then the pebbling process is repeated using a nozzle with a larger hole, and another scrapper nips the top of the pebbles off.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2022

There is no more violent splashing and pebbling, racing, chasing, separating. 

From The Diary of a Goose Girl by Claude A. Shepperson

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• earth
• gravel
• lava
• metal
• rubble
• slab

---