Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

bowl2

Pronunciation: /bəʊl/

Translate bowl | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of bowl

noun

  • 1a wooden or hard rubber ball, slightly asymmetrical so that it runs on a curved course, used in the game of bowls.
  • a large ball with indentations for gripping, used in tenpin bowling.
  • a wooden ball or disc used in playing skittles.
  • 2a spell or turn of bowling in cricket.

verb

  • 1 [with object and adverbial of direction] roll (a ball or other round object) along the ground:she snatched her hat off and bowled it ahead of her
  • 2 [with object] Cricket (of a bowler) propel (the ball) with a straight arm towards the batsman, typically in such a way that the ball bounces once:Lillee bowled another bouncer [no object]:Sobers bowled to Willis
  • (also bowl someone out) dismiss (a batsman) by knocking down the wicket with the ball which one has bowled:Stewart was bowled for 33
  • (bowl a side out) get an entire team out:they bowled Lancashire out for 143
  • 3 [no object, with adverbial of direction] British move rapidly and smoothly in a specified direction:they bowled along the country roads

Phrasal Verbs

bowl someone over

knock someone down: he was almost bowling people over in his haste
informal greatly impress someone by one’s good qualities, looks, or achievements:when he met Angela he was just bowled over by her

Origin:

late Middle English (in the general sense 'ball'): from Old French boule, from Latin bulla 'bubble'

bowl in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of bowl in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

More words in this category

Word of the day

kempt

/ kɛm(p)t /
adjective
maintained in a neat and clean condition …