Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A name for the red-throated diver, Colymbus septentrionalis.
  • noun In general, any piece of iron or steel which is wasted during rolling or forging: specifically, an imperfectly puddled ball of iron which goes to pieces in the squeezer.
  • noun See coble.
  • To mend or patch (especially shoes or boots).
  • Hence To put together, make, or do clumsily, unhandily, or coarsely.
  • To work as a cobbler; work clumsily.
  • noun A stone rounded by the action of water, and of a size suitable for use in paving. Smaller stones of the same character are usually called pebbles, and larger ones boulders. Also called cobblestone, cobstone.
  • noun A rounded hill.
  • noun A round nut like a cobble. See cobnut.
  • noun A kernel or stone (of fruit, etc.).
  • noun A lump of coal from the size of an egg to that of a foot-ball.
  • noun An icicle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A fishing boat. See coble.
  • noun A cobblestone.
  • noun Cob coal. See under Cob.
  • transitive verb To make or mend coarsely; to patch; to botch.
  • transitive verb To make clumsily.
  • transitive verb To pave with cobblestones.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A cobblestone.
  • noun geology A particle from 64 to 256 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale
  • verb intransitive To make shoes (what a cobbler does).
  • verb transitive To assemble in an improvised way.
  • verb transitive, intransitive To use cobblestones to pave a road, walkway, etc.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb repair or mend
  • noun rectangular paving stone with curved top; once used to make roads
  • verb pave with cobblestones

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cobble.

Examples

  • Then, too, the roads were of the kind called _pavé_; that is, paved with what we know as cobble-stones or Belgian blocks.

    The Emma Gees Herbert Wes McBride

  • Michener gets everything right, from the pronunciation of Kabul -- "cobble" -- to the archaeology.

    Five Best 2008

  • You can kind of cobble together a mental image of a lifetime spent with men nodding their heads in apparent fascination and listening to hours of endless drivel trying to figure out when and how to get their pants off and draw some conclusions as to why this might be, but let's just say that intellectual humility and celebrity beauty don't often go hand-in-hand.

    Jane Hamsher: Huckabee Pwns Limbaugh 2008

  • More than one captain made up his mind then and there that his "cobble" or his "mule," as they term the different classes of boats, would remain in the harbour till the storm had passed.

    Dracula 1897

  • She uses larger rocks such as cobble because pebbles can get stuck in an animal's paws.

    unknown title 2008

  • 'cobble' or his 'mule', as they term the different classes of boats, would remain in the harbour till the storm had passed.

    Dracula Bram Stoker 1879

  • If I were to cobble together a list of summer trash the 1st thing I would do is disqualify anything that shows up your standard school reading list.

    Archive 2009-08-01 2009

  • On the other hand, with Mr. Perry and Ms. Bachmann splitting the social conservatives and tea party affiliates, there's an opportunity for Mr. Romney to cobble together a winning coalition of his own.

    Four-Horse Race in Iowa Carl J. Kelm 2011

  • Good walking shoes and boots are essential with the cobble stone streets.

    cost of Moving to Lakeside 2009

  • It does stink to not be able to get the job one wants right off, but most young people, if they have not overburdened themselves with stupid debt (e.g. cars, credit cards), can ride out a hiring lag and manage to cobble together a successful career in its aftermath.

    Matthew Yglesias » By Request: The Graduates 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • is defined by the Udden-Wentworth scale as being between 64 and 256 millimetres in diameter.

    February 26, 2007

  • I like this word in both its direct meanings: "cobble" as in cobblestone, and "cobble" as in "repair shoes". But I really like the figurative usage that derives from this second meaning, as in "to cobble something together". A nice image of low-tech premodern industriousness.

    November 26, 2007

  • Ah yes, rolig... Artisanal labor. :)

    November 26, 2007

  • A kind of boat: “More than one captain made up his mind then and there that his 'cobble' or his 'mule', as they term the different classes of boats, would remain in the harbour till the storm had passed.”

    Dracula, by Bram Stoker

    March 3, 2011