Synonyms

bowl over

British

verb

informal to surprise (a person) greatly, esp in a pleasant way; astound; amaze

he was bowled over by our gift
to knock (a person or thing) down; cause to fall over

"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

bowl over Idioms

Astonish, surprise greatly, overwhelm, as in I was simply bowled over by their wonderful performance. This term originated in cricket, where it means “to knock all the bails off the wicket.” [Mid-1800s]

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023