a city in S Kentucky.
a city in NW Ohio.
a small open area near the S tip of Manhattan in New York City, at the foot of Broadway.
First recorded in 1640–50
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For Grimsby boss Artell, a "bowling green" surface much closer in quality to the one his side stunned Manchester United on in the League Cup earlier this season would also have been preferable.
From BBC • Feb. 15, 2026
Fillongley Provincial Park was an early-20th-century private estate, whose former bowling green is now a wildflower meadow ringed by imported deciduous trees.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 3, 2023
When Dr. Slop offers witless barbs, Toby gently submits, wishing no harm on anyone, desiring only to potter about his bowling green, or to sit soothing a brother’s distress.
From Slate • Feb. 8, 2016
The most eccentric of Glasheen's quirks is his insistence on maintaining a large – and largely brown – bowling green, which he cuts with a petrol-powered mower.
From The Guardian • Apr. 23, 2013
"Nobby," said Berry, "come off the bowling green."
From Berry And Co. by Yates, Dornford
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
