Pebble
nounA small, smooth, rounded stone, especially one worn by water.
How to spell pebble
6 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce pebble
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does pebble mean?
- nounA small, smooth, rounded stone, especially one worn by water.
Pebble in a sentence
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She picked up a smooth grey pebble from the beach.
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A single pebble in his shoe made the whole walk uncomfortable.
Where does pebble come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
Pebble comes from Old English, where it appears in the compound papolstan, meaning a 'pebble-stone'. The first element papol- referred to a small rounded stone of the kind found on beaches and riverbeds, though its ultimate origin is obscure and may have been imitative of the rattling sound such stones make. By the early Middle English period the word had been smoothed down to forms like pibble and pobble before settling into the modern spelling pebble. It has long described the kind of small, water-worn stone you find underfoot, and the related adjective 'pebbly' and the word 'pebbledash' (a rough wall coating) both grew from it. The double 'b' in the middle is the main spelling point to remember, since the short, clipped vowel can tempt writers to leave one out.
How the word is built
- pebble (single root; from Old English papol-, as in papolstan 'pebble-stone')
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