[Etymology uncertain. In Lowland Sc. clobber, clabber is given as ‘mud, clay, dirt,’ app. a. Gaelic clabar in same sense: but this is hardly likely to be the word: cf. the vb.] A black paste used by cobblers to fill up and conceal cracks in the leather of boots and shoes.
1853. Dickens, Househ. Words, VII. 79 (Hoppe). If there are crevices and breaks in an old pair of shoes which he does not choose to fill up with leather, he insinuates into them a dose of clobber, which seems to be a mixture of ground cinders and paste.
