cobble1

[kob-uh l] /ˈkɒb əl/
verb (used with object), cobbled, cobbling.
1.
to mend (shoes, boots, etc.); patch.
2.
to put together roughly or clumsily.
Origin
1490-1500; apparently back formation from cobbler

cobble2

[kob-uh l] /ˈkɒb əl/
noun
1.
a cobblestone.
2.
cobbles, coal in lumps larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder.
3.
Metalworking.
  1. a defect in a rolled piece resulting from loss of control over its movement.
  2. Slang. a piece showing bad workmanship.
verb (used with object), cobbled, cobbling.
4.
to pave with cobblestones.
Origin
1595-1605; perhaps cob + -le; see cobblestone

cobble3

[kob-uh l] /ˈkɒb əl/
noun
1.
New England, New York State, and New Jersey. (especially in placenames) a rounded hill.
Origin
1885-95; perhaps < cobble2
Examples from the web for cobbles
  • Opportunity has come across several much smaller cobbles in its travels that also may be of meteoritic origin.
  • The main corridor linking six small office blocks within the complex is a village street, complete with cobbles and wayside trees.
  • Observing imbricated cobbles in ancient sedimentary deposits provides important information about the processes.
  • Out of it all, she cobbles together her best set in years.
  • The facility cobbles together anti-protons from an atom smasher and positrons emitted by radioactive sodium-22.
  • It opens onto a large paved courtyard, where the steel-rimmed wheels of horse-drawn carriages have polished the cobbles.
  • The morning may bring driving rain, which bounces against the cobbles as if to dislodge them.
  • The coin bounced on the cobbles and rolled into a puddle of yesterday's rain.
  • Closer to the shore, there are a few boulders and some cobbles.
  • Colluvium consists dominantly of boulders and cobbles derived from weathering of bedrock.
British Dictionary definitions for cobbles

cobbles

/ˈkɒbəlz/
plural noun
1.
coal in small rounded lumps
2.
cobblestones

cobble1

/ˈkɒbəl/
noun
1.
short for cobblestone
2.
(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
3.
(transitive) to pave (a road) with cobblestones
See also cobbles
Derived Forms
cobbled, adjective
Word Origin
C15 (in cobblestone): from cob1

cobble2

/ˈkɒbəl/
verb (transitive)
1.
to make or mend (shoes)
2.
to put together clumsily
Word Origin
C15: back formation from cobbler1
Word Origin and History for cobbles

cobble

n.

"paving stone; worn, rounded stone," c.1600, earlier cobblestone, probably a diminutive of cob in some sense. The verb in this sense is from 1690s. Related: Cobbled; cobbling.

v.

"to mend clumsily," late 15c., perhaps a back-formation from cobbler (n.1), or from cob, via a notion of lumps. Related: Cobbled; cobbling.

cobbles in Science
cobble
  (kŏb'əl)   
A rock fragment larger than a pebble and smaller than a boulder. Pebbles have a diameter between 64 and 256 mm (2.56 and 10.24 inches) and are often rounded.