cobble

See also: Cobble and coble

English

Etymology

From Middle English cobill, kobill (used in various combinations with ston, stan (“stone”), note, nutt (“nut”), etc.), probably a diminutive of Middle English *cob, *cobb, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kubb- (“lump; round object”). Equivalent to cob +‎ -le.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑb.l̩/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒb.əl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒbəl

Noun

cobble (plural cobbles)

1. A cobblestone.
2. (geology) A particle from 64 to 256 mm in diameter, following the Wentworth scale.
3. Alternative form of coble (a kind of fishing-boat).

Translations

cobblestone — see cobblestone

Verb

cobble (third-person singular simple present cobbles, present participle cobbling, simple past and past participle cobbled)

1. (intransitive) To make shoes (what a cobbler does).
2. (transitive) To assemble in an improvised way.

   I cobbled something together to get us through till morning.

3. (transitive, intransitive) To use cobblestones to pave a road, walkway, etc.

Translations

to make shoes

• Bulgarian: кърпя обуща (kǎrpja obušta)
• Finnish: tehdä kenkiä
• German: schustern (de)
• Manx: whaal

• Portuguese: fazer sapato
• Spanish: zapatero (es)
• Welsh: crydda
• Westrobothnian: læsk, skómm

to assemble in an improvised manner

• Bulgarian: правя нещо как да е (pravja nešto kak da e)
• Finnish: kursia kasaan
• German: schustern (de)
• Lithuanian: kurpti

• Portuguese: improvisar (pt)
• Russian: топорно (ru) (toporno) собира́ть (ru) (sobirátʹ)
• Spanish: ensamblar (es)

to use cobblestones for paving

• Czech: dláždit (cs)
• Finnish: kivetä mukulakivillä, mukulakivetä

• Russian: мостить (ru) (mostitʹ)