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.

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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

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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.

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pebble Idioms  

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pebbly
  adjective
• unpebbled
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• pebbles
  plural

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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

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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

Tom Kloza of Gulf Oil called it “a pebble in the ocean.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026

“I have to create a pebble or a disruption.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

“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 women shook pebbles out of calabash bowls into the folds of their skirts and moved between the benches, firmly placing one pebble into each outstretched hand.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Driving up along the Santa Clara river, past invasive mustard grass, three giant tan rocks of glommed-together pebbles and stones tower above the rugged hills.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026

Fans were asked not to leave socks on the mock grave, made of pebbles with messages written on them, because the beach was environmentally sensitive.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 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

That month, Darwin found more bones strewn among the pebbles and rocks.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

She told a local coordinator she believed the 37th image -- showing the pale, swollen face of a man lying on a pebbled riverbed -- was her childhood best friend.

From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026

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

The skin, which belonged to an early species of Paleozoic reptile, has a pebbled surface and most closely resembles crocodile skin.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 11, 2024

“Oh, I don’t know about that. There are hundreds of ways. Some paved, some pebbled, some pockmarked.”

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

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

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

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

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

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

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