cobble

[kob-uh l]

verb (used with object), cob·bled, cob·bling.

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

to put together roughly or clumsily.

Origin of cobble

First recorded in 1490–1500; apparently back formation from cobbler

cobble

[kob-uh l]

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), cob·bled, cob·bling.

to pave with cobblestones.

Origin of cobble

1595–1605; perhaps cob + -le; see cobblestone

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for cobbled

complete, fabricate, create, construct, synthesize, assemble, mass-produce, sew, repair, rebuild, revamp, reinforce, reconstruct, execute, compose, form, cast, process, make, tool

Examples from the Web for cobbled

Contemporary Examples of cobbled

Check out Le Marais, one of the oldest quarters of the city, where gay-friendly establishments line the winding cobbled lanes.
The Ultimate LGBT Travel Bucket List
December 12, 2014
After multiple rejections, he cobbled together enough money for a limited double-blind trial that began last year.
How Big Pharma Holds Back in the War on Cancer
ProPublica
April 23, 2014
Like Tracks or The Promise, High Hopes has been cobbled together from castoffs.
‘High Hopes’ Review: Bruce Springsteen Lowers the Bar
Andrew Romano
January 7, 2014
A bill was cobbled together then, the bill that ultimately led to the sequester, that got 76 votes.
Help Us Harry Reid, You’re Our Only Hope
Michael Tomasky
October 9, 2013
Drag queens dressed like Gaga herself and groups in bishops cloaks kissed and hugged on the cobbled streets.
Lady Gaga Angers the Pope
Barbie Latza Nadeau
June 12, 2011

Historical Examples of cobbled

He was very poor, and to support his family he 'cobbled' for his neighbors.
Hidden Treasures
Harry A. Lewis
From outside came a clatter of hoofs on the cobbled roadway.
The Book of All-Power
Edgar Wallace
Up the gray cobbled streets and away on the headlands, he would think of it.
The Freelands
John Galsworthy
Sometimes, in the evening, he cobbled the boots or mended the kettle or his pit-bottle.
Sons and Lovers
David Herbert Lawrence
Fish-scales glistened on the cobbled quays of the little port.
Patsy
S. R. Crockett

British Dictionary definitions for cobbled

cobble

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

(tr) to pave (a road) with cobblestones

Word Origin for cobble

C15 (in cobblestone): from cob 1

cobble

verb (tr)

to make or mend (shoes)

to put together clumsily

Word Origin for cobble

C15: back formation from cobbler 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cobbled

cobble

"paving stone; worn, rounded stone," c.1600, earlier cobblestone, probably a diminutive of cob in some sense. The verb in this sense is from 1690s. Related: Cobbled; cobbling.

cobble

"to mend clumsily," late 15c., perhaps a back-formation from cobbler (n.1), or from cob, via a notion of lumps. Related: Cobbled; cobbling.

cobbled in Science

cobble

[kŏb′əl]

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.