coble

[ koh-buhl ]

noun

a flat-bottomed fishing boat with a lugsail, used mainly in northern England and Scotland for salmon.

Origin of coble

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English cobel; probably of Celtic origin (compare Welsh ceubal, ceubol “skiff, ferryboat”), ultimately from Late Latin caupulus, caupilus “small sailing vessel with a high prow”

Words Nearby coble

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use coble in a sentence

If it were not too late,” I cried with indignation, “I would take the coble and go out to warn them.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI | Robert Louis Stevenson
How boldly he steered the coble across the foaming bar, When the sky was black to the eastward and the breakers white on the scar!
Literary Byways | William Andrews
Through the foaming seas, which threatened every moment to overwhelm the little coble, they pulled off to the wreck.
A Yacht Voyage Round England | W.H.G. Kingston
A rope was bent on to the stern, and the crowd quickly hauled the coble away from the heavy surf into safety.
Looking Seaward Again | Walter Runciman
Meanwhile, a coble sails almost peacefully alongside their ill-fated craft.
Looking Seaward Again | Walter Runciman

British Dictionary definitions for coble

coble

/ (ˈkəʊbəl, ˈkɒbəl) /

noun

Scot and Northern English a small single-masted flat-bottomed fishing boat

Origin of coble

C13: probably of Celtic origin; compare Welsh ceubal skiff

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

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