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bola

American  
[boh-luh] / ˈboʊ lə /

noun

plural

bolas

  1. Also a weapon consisting of two or more heavy balls secured to the ends of one or more strong cords, hurled by the Indians and gauchos of southern South America to entangle the legs of cattle and other animals.

  2. bolo tie.

bola British  
/ ˈbəʊlə, ˈbəʊləs /

noun

  1. a missile used by gauchos and Indians of South America, consisting of two or more heavy balls on a cord. It is hurled at a running quarry, such as an ox or rhea, so as to entangle its legs

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of bola

1835–45; < Spanish: ball < Old Provençal < Latin bulla bubble, knob; boil 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

La velocidad media de su bola rápida en la salida anterior: 94,4 mph.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2025

Al día siguiente, Sasaki redescubrió su bola rápida.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2025

Axel Perez, his nephew, swings and sways atop the rolla bola, a platform balanced atop one or more rolling cylinders.

From New York Times • Nov. 25, 2022

Huge queues formed where la bola en la calle – the gossip on the street – told of chicken, pork or cooking oil.

From The Guardian • Feb. 21, 2021

The only cotton left for us to harvest was la bola, the leftovers from the first picking, which paid one and a half cents a pound.

From "The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child" by Francisco Jiménez

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.