cobbler
Syllables: cob·blerUK/ˈkɒblə//ˈkɑblɚ/
cobbler noun: a person who repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes.
Noun (1)
cobbler (plural cobblers)
- A person who repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes.
- This honest Cobler has done what he might: / That Statesmen in their Shoes might walk upright. / But rotten Shoes of Spannish running-leather: / No Coblers skill, can stitch them strong together.1647, Jerome Bellamie, “Postscript”, in Theodore de la Guard [pseudonym; Nathaniel Ward], The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America. […], London: […] J[ohn] D[ever] & R[obert] I[bbitson] for Stephen...
- [W]hat would they think of a French cobler cutting ſhoes for ſeveral of his fellow-ſubjects out of an old apple-tree?1710 February 20 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 15. Thursday, February 10. [1710.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […]...
- Synonyms:
- botcher, chuckler, lad of wax, shoemender, souter, waxie, waxy
- A sheep left to the end to be sheared (for example, because its wool is filthy, or because it is difficult to catch).
- A person who cobbles (“to assemble or mend in an improvised or rough way”); a clumsy workman.
- Truely Sir, in reſpect of a fine Workman, / I am but as you would ſay, a Cobler.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
Noun (2)
cobbler (plural cobblers)
- An (iced) alcoholic drink containing spirit or wine, with lemon juice and sugar.
- [H]e produced a very large tumbler, piled up to the brim with little blocks of clear transparent ice, through which one or two thin slices of lemon, and a golden liquid of delicious appearance, appeared from the still depths below, to the loving eye of the spectator. […] "This wonderful invention...1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “Martin Enlarges His Circle of Acquaintance; […]”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC...
- In the creed of Asirvadam the Brahmin, the drinker of strong drink is a Pariah, and the eater of cow's flesh is damned already. If, then, he can tell a cocktail from a cobbler, and scientifically discriminate between a julep and a gin-sling, it must be because the Vedas are unclasped to him; for in...1858 June, “Asirvadam the Brahmin”, in The Atlantic Monthly. A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics, volume II, number VIII, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson and Company, […]; London: Trübner...
Noun (3)
cobbler (plural cobblers)
- A roadworker who lays cobbles.
Noun (4)
cobbler (plural cobblers)
- The shiny, hard seed of the horse chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum), especially when used in the game of the same name (sense 1.2); a conker, a horse chestnut.
- ["A]n' 'e was mad, an' so he snatched my cobbler an' run off with it. An' so I run after 'im, an' when I was gettin' hold of him, 'e dodged, an' it ripped 'is collar. But I got my cobbler—" He pulled from his pocket a black old horse-chestnut hanging on a string. This old cobbler had "cobbled"—hit...1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Casting Off of Morel—The Taking On of William”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 50
- Synonym of conkers (“a game for two players in which the participants each have a horse-chestnut (known as a cobbler (sense 1.1) or conker) suspended from a length of string, and take turns to strike their opponent's conker with their own with the object of destroying the opponent's conker before their own is destroyed”).
- Synonyms:
- conkers
Noun (5)
cobbler (plural cobblers)
- The South Australian catfish (Cnidoglanis macrocephalus), a species of catfish native to Australia which has dorsal and pectoral fins bearing sharp, venomous spines.
- Fished for cobblers in the evening. The warbler sings its night-song.1831 November 10, George Fletcher Moore, “The Journey”, in Martin Doyle, editor, Extracts from the Letters and Journals of George Fletcher Moore, Esq. […], London: Orr and Smith, […]; Dublin: W....
- The soldier or South Australian cobbler (Gymnapistes marmoratus), a brown fish native to southern Australian estuaries which is not closely related to Cnidoglanis macrocephalus, but also has venemous spines on its dorsal and pectoral fins.
- Also river cobbler: basa (Pangasius bocourti), an edible species of shark catfish native to the Chao Phraya and Mekong river basins in Southeast Asia.
- Pangas catfish (Pangasius pangasius), an edible species of shark catfish native to Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan.
- Condica sutor, an owlet moth native to North America.
- A police officer.
- Look out: it’s the cobblers!
- Synonyms:
- 5-O, alphabet, barney, beatsman, bizzie, bluebottle, bluecoat, blue heeler, blue meanie, bobby
Noun (6)
cobbler (plural cobblers)
- Often preceded by a descriptive word as in apple cobbler, peach cobbler, etc.: a kind of pie, usually filled with fruit, originally having a crust at the base but nowadays generally lacking this and instead topped with a thick, cake-like pastry layer.
- I have selected a few dishes, and made out a little bill of fare, which will go home in the steamer that precedes me, and be hot when I arrive—as follows: […] Apple puffs, Southern style. Peach cobbler, Southern style. Peach pie. American mince pie.1880, Mark Twain [pseudonym] (Samuel L[anghorne] Clemens), “”, in A Tramp Abroad; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company; London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, pages 574–575
- The Al Qaeda online magazine 'Inspire' has a recipe for a homemade bomb. They also have a recipe for a pretty darn good peach cobbler.2013 April 30, Norm Macdonald Live, season 1, episode 6, spoken by Larry King
Noun (7)
cobbler (plural cobblers)
- A testicle.
Noun (8) capitalized: Cobbler
Cobbler (plural Cobblers)
- A person from Northamptonshire (traditionally a centre for shoemaking)
cobbler meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
cobbler in Hindi
- person who repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes
- चमार camār, मोची mocī
cobbler in Tamil
- செம்மார், காலணி தைப்பவர்
cobbler in Marathi
- person who repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes
- चांभार cāmbhār, मोची mocī, चर्मकार carmakār
cobbler in Urdu
- cobbler
- چمار camār
- cobbler, shoemaker
- موچی mocī
More languagesFewer languages
- cobbler in Bengali
- মুচী muci
- cobbler in Telugu
- మాదిగ mādiga
- cobbler in Malayalam
- ചെരുപ്പുകുത്തി, ഒരു പലഹാരം
- cobbler in Kannada
- ಮೆಟ್ಟುಗಾರ
- cobbler in Gujarati
- મોચી mocī
- cobbler in Assamese
- মুচী musi
- cobbler in Arabic
- إِسْكَاف ʔiskāf
- cobbler in Persian
- کفاش kaffâš
Examples of cobbler in a sentence
- What of the hewers of wood and drawers of water, the swineherds, the shepherds, the carpenters, the hedgers and cobblers?1922, Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, The Old English Herbals, London: Longmans, Green and Co., page 13:
- Sherry cobbler when you name it long; cobbler, when you name it short.[…]"1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “Martin Enlarges His Circle of Acquaintance; […]”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin...
- It was very hot when Captain Littledale was here; he did nothing but drink sherry cobblers.1878, Henry James, An International Episode:
- ["A]n' 'e was mad, an' so he snatched my cobbler an' run off with it.1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Casting Off of Morel—The Taking On of William”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […]...
Synonyms of cobbler
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of cobbler
| plural | cobblers |
|---|---|
| plural | Cobblers |
| alternative form (obsolete) | cobler |
Origin of cobbler
Inherited from Middle English cobeler, cobelere (“mender of shoes, cobbler”) [and other forms]; further origin unknown. The word appears to be derived from an early form of cobble (“to mend roughly, patch; (specifically) to mend shoes, especially roughly”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns), but is attested much earlier than the verb which suggests that the verb may be a back-formation from cobbler. Sense 2 (“sheep left to the end to be sheared”) is a pun on cobbler’s last (“tool for shaping or preserving the shape of shoes”); while sense 3 (“clumsy workman”) is derived from cobble + -er: see above.
Uncertain; it has been suggested that the word derives from cobbler’s punch (“warm drink made of beer with added spirit, sugar, and spices”), or because the drink patches up (“repairs; makes better”) the drinker.
From cobble (“rounded stone used for paving roads, cobblestone”) + -er (occupational suffix). Cobble is from Late Middle English, from cobbe (“head or leader; gangleader; bully (?); male swan, cob; the head; something rounded or in the form of a lump”) + -le, -el (suffix forming diminutives). The further etymology of cobbe is uncertain; it is perhaps a variant of cop (“the top of something (a house, tower, mountain, tree, etc.); crown or top of the head; the head”), from Old English cop, copp (“summit, top; cup, vessel”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz (“round object, orb; knoll; hilltop, summit; crown or top of the head; head; skull; bowl; container, vessel”), from Proto-Indo-European *gup- (“round object; knoll”), from *gew- (“to bend, curve; an arch, vault”). However, this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary.
Words formed from cobbler
Words that rhyme with cobbler
Questions about cobbler
- What does cobbler mean?
- Cobbler means a person who repairs, and sometimes makes, shoes.
- What is cobbler in Hindi?
- Cobbler in Hindi is चमार (camār), मोची (mocī). See Cobbler meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use cobbler in a sentence?
- What of the hewers of wood and drawers of water, the swineherds, the shepherds, the carpenters, the hedgers and cobblers?
- What part of speech is cobbler?
- Cobbler is a noun.
- How do you pronounce cobbler?
- Cobbler is pronounced /ˈkɒblə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of cobbler?
- The plural of cobbler is cobblers.
Words near cobbler in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cobbler (page history and authors); Cobbler (page history and authors); cobbler (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); موچی (Urdu) (page history and authors); మాదిగ (Telugu) (page history and authors); cobbler (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); cobbler (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-cobbler.oga.
Cite this entry: “cobbler.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cobbler. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.