To cobble something means to put it together quickly or clumsily from whatever materials you have available. When you cobble together a Halloween costume on the day of the party, you're grabbing random items from your closet and making them work, even if the result looks a bit rough. A student might cobble together a last-minute presentation using scraps of information.

The word suggests improvisation and making do with what's at hand. A scientist might cobble together an experiment using spare parts from the lab. A group of friends might cobble together enough money for pizza by pooling their allowances and loose change.

While cobbling something together shows resourcefulness, it also hints that the result might not be polished or perfect. The tent you cobbled together might keep the rain out, but it probably won't win any camping awards. Still, sometimes a cobbled-together solution is exactly what you need: it gets the job done when time is short or resources are limited.