cobble
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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to mend (shoes, boots, etc.); patch.
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to put together roughly or clumsily.
noun
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a cobblestone.
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cobbles, coal in lumps larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder.
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Metalworking.
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a defect in a rolled piece resulting from loss of control over its movement.
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Slang. a piece showing bad workmanship.
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verb (used with object)
noun
noun
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short for cobblestone
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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
verb
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to make or mend (shoes)
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to put together clumsily
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He showed a barren creekbed filled with cobbles, then a green wetland filled with ducks.
From Los Angeles Times
Two weeks after the release of the film, picturesque Haworth in northwest England with its narrow, cobbled streets and small stone houses, is packed.
From Barron's
The blunt-spoken president’s own political skills have rapidly improved, enabling him to cobble together legislative majorities while his own Freedom Advances party remains in the minority.
From Barron's
Her latest black comedy takes the viewer on a tour of Vienna's Baroque architecture and cobbled streets, as well into the provinces of the Habsburg Empire.
From Barron's
Now, I’m the one who must cobble together an agenda if I want even a fraction of that payback.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
