pebble
a small, rounded stone, especially one worn smooth by the action of water.
Also called pebble leather . leather that has been given a granulated surface.
any granulated or crinkled surface, especially of a textile.
a transparent colorless rock crystal used for the lenses of eyeglasses.
a lens made from this crystal.
to prepare (leather) so as to have a granulated surface.
to pelt with or as with pebbles.
Origin of pebble
1Other words from pebble
- un·peb·bled, adjective
Words that may be confused with pebble
- boulder, cobblestone, granule, pebble , rock, stone
Words Nearby pebble
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pebble in a sentence
NASA scientists confirmed Wednesday that the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully made contact with an asteroid a day earlier, touching the surface for six seconds and collecting dust and pebbles from its surface.
NASA reaches out and touches an asteroid 320 million kilometers away | Eric Berger | October 21, 2020 | Ars TechnicaThe instrument tapped the asteroid lightly for six seconds, and released a burst of nitrogen gas to disturb the surface dust and pebbles.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx survived its risky mission to grab a piece of an asteroid | Lisa Grossman | October 21, 2020 | Science NewsOnce there, it briefly made contact with the ground in an attempt to collect some rocky pebbles and dust before safely flying away.
OSIRIS-REx survived its touchdown on asteroid Bennu—now we wait to see if it got a sample | Neel Patel | October 21, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewStill, the worry remains that the boulders might pose a safety hazard for the sampling system, which was designed to handle pebbles only a few centimeters across.
The asteroid Bennu’s brittle boulders may make grabbing a sample easier | Lisa Grossman | October 8, 2020 | Science NewsOrganic material is fragile, and scientists have previously caught the asteroid popping pebbles off into space, revealing its underlying material to the universe.
Local asteroid Bennu used to be filled with tiny rivers | Charlie Wood | October 8, 2020 | Popular-Science
Pluck a pebble from a mountain and pretend the mountain is gone.
The Crazy Way Creationists Try To Explain Human Tails Without Evolution | Karl W. Giberson | June 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe can see a person supporting the anti-pebble initiative and voting for a Republican ticket.
The maze ends in an expansive Zen garden, complete with a pebble pool-pit and a vast mirror along one wall.
The Royal Academy Wants You to Finish This Artwork | Chloë Ashby | January 24, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOther key presenters included executives from Google, Microsoft, and start-ups like pebble.
The pebble comes close, but it still looks like a computer sitting on a wristband.
He turned away, tossing another pebble into the pool with a half-hearted motion of his arm.
The Envoy, Her | Horace Brown FyfeHe chose a flat pebble and sent it skipping across the surface with a vicious snap of his wrist.
The Envoy, Her | Horace Brown FyfeOar and keel, pebble and arrow, wind and current, are alike powerless to make a furrow that shall last.
A Charming Fellow, Volume II (of 3) | Frances Eleanor TrollopeHis method was to take a pebble from a running stream, and grind it to powder with certain prayers.
The Cradle of Mankind | W.A. WigramAnd at that the elder brother cried out aloud, and turned the light of the pebble on the maid, and, lo!
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI | Robert Louis Stevenson
British Dictionary definitions for pebble
/ (ˈpɛbəl) /
a small smooth rounded stone, esp one worn by the action of water
geology a rock fragment, often rounded, with a diameter of 4–64 mm and thus smaller than a cobble but larger than a granule
a transparent colourless variety of rock crystal, used for making certain lenses
such a lens
(modifier) informal (of a lens or of spectacles) thick, with a high degree of magnification or distortion
a grainy irregular surface, esp on leather
leather having such a surface
informal, mainly Australian a troublesome or obstinate person or animal
to pave, cover, or pelt with pebbles
to impart a grainy surface to (leather)
Origin of pebble
1Derived forms of pebble
- pebbly, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for pebble
[ pĕb′əl ]
A rock fragment larger than a granule and smaller than a cobble. Pebbles have a diameter between 4 and 64 mm (0.16 and 2.56 inches) and are often rounded.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with pebble
see not the only fish in the sea (pebble on the beach).
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Browse