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• bowling green
  bowling green

  noun

  a level, closely mowed green for lawn bowling.
• Bowling Green
  Bowling Green

  noun

  a city in S Kentucky.

bowling green

¹ American  

noun

1. a level, closely mowed green for lawn bowling.

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Bowling Green ² American  

noun

1. a city in S Kentucky.

2. a city in NW Ohio.

3. a small open area near the S tip of Manhattan in New York City, at the foot of Broadway.

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bowling green British  

noun

1. an area of closely mown turf on which the game of bowls is played

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Etymology

Origin of bowling green

First recorded in 1640–50

Example Sentences

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

The bowling green is no longer there, but Bowling Green Street is.

From New York Times • Jul. 29, 2016

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

On the green and velvety bowling green young Walter and I are playing at bowls.

From The Great Captain: A Story of the Days of Sir Walter Raleigh by Tynan, Katharine