cobble

1 of 2

verb

cob·​ble ˈkä-bəl 

cobbled; cobbling ˈkä-b(ə-)liŋ 

transitive verb

1

chiefly British : to mend or patch coarsely

2

: repair, make

cobble shoes

3

: to make or put together roughly or hastily

—often used with together or up

cobble together an agreement

cobble up a temporary solution

cobble

2 of 2

noun

1

: cobblestone

2

cobbles plural, chiefly British : lump coal about the size of small cobblestones

Synonyms

Verb

• jury-rig
• patch (together)
• throw up

Examples of cobble in a Sentence

Verb

expensive leather shoes cobbled in Italy

Noun

a street paved with cobbles

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The characters within can be sloppy, sure, but their narrative needs to be focused — picking up the pieces of a psyche shattered by sorrow and cobbling them into something meaningful, something affecting, something worth sharing with others. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 10 July 2024

The early uses and abuses of the Kodak helped cobble together a right that centered on profiting from the exploitation of someone’s likeness, rather than the exploitation itself. —Sohini Desai, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 July 2024

Noun

Maybe Vance can slip over into southwestern Pennsylvania and cobble together some more votes from the Laurel Highlands. —Philip Bump, Washington Post, 16 July 2024

Action, not words, is needed now to end the suffering, silence the beating of war drums, and cobble back together the fragile coalition Biden needs to remain in power. —Joseph Geevarghese, Baltimore Sun, 2 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English coblen, perhaps back-formation from cobelere cobbler

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1600, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

cobble

1 of 2 verb

cob·​ble ˈkäb-əl 

cobbled; cobbling -(ə-)liŋ 

: to make roughly or hastily

—often used with together or up

cobble

2 of 2 noun

: a rounded stone larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder