cobble

¹ American  

[kob-uhl] / ˈkɒb əl /

verb (used with object)

cobbled, cobbling

1. to mend (shoes, boots, etc.); patch.

2. to put together roughly or clumsily.

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cobble ² American  

[kob-uhl] / ˈkɒb əl /

noun

1. a cobblestone.

2. cobbles, coal in lumps larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder.

3. Metalworking.

   1. a defect in a rolled piece resulting from loss of control over its movement.

   2. Slang. a piece showing bad workmanship.

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verb (used with object)

cobbled, cobbling

1. to pave with cobblestones.

cobble ³ American  

[kob-uhl] / ˈkɒb əl /

noun

1. New England, New York State, and New Jersey. (especially in placenames) a rounded hill.

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cobble ¹ British  

/ ˈkɒbəl /

noun

1. short for cobblestone

2. geology a rock fragment, often rounded, with a diameter of 64–256 mm and thus smaller than a boulder but larger than a pebble

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verb

1. (tr) to pave (a road) with cobblestones

cobble ² British  

/ ˈkɒbəl /

verb

1. to make or mend (shoes)

2. to put together clumsily

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cobble Scientific  

/ kŏb′əl /

1. A rock fragment larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder. Pebbles have a diameter between 64 and 256 mm (2.56 and 10.24 inches) and are often rounded.

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Other Word Forms

• cobbled adjective

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; cobblestone

Origin of cobble³

First recorded in 1885–95; perhaps from cobble ²

Example Sentences

She comes only once a week, paid for by whatever funds the clinic can cobble together.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026

It can help people who don’t know how to talk about themselves cobble a few sentences together about their hobbies or spit out some ideas to replace “Bios aren’t my thing.”

From Slate • Jan. 7, 2026

"So how do you take those events, make them meaningful in their own right, but cobble them together in a competitive model?"

From BBC • Dec. 16, 2025

Three governments in France have collapsed in less than a year, as they struggled to cobble together support in the fragmented National Assembly to pass a budget and narrow France’s widening deficit.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 13, 2025

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

Related Words

• assemble
• complete
• construct
• create
• fabricate
• mass-produce
• synthesize