Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

bowl

2
[bohl]
See more synonyms for bowl on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. one of the balls, having little or no bias, used in playing ninepins or tenpins.
  2. one of the biased or weighted balls used in lawn bowling.
  3. bowls, (used with a singular verb) lawn bowling.
  4. a delivery of the ball in bowling or lawn bowling.
  5. (formerly) a rotating cylindrical part in a machine, as one to reduce friction.
Show More
verb (used without object)
  1. to play at bowling or bowls; participate in or have a game or games of bowling.
  2. to roll a bowl or ball.
  3. to move along smoothly and rapidly.
  4. Cricket. to deliver the ball to be played by the batsman.
Show More
verb (used with object)
  1. to roll or trundle, as a ball or hoop.
  2. to attain by bowling: He bowls a good game. She usually bowls a 120 game, but today she bowled 180.
  3. to knock or strike, as by the ball in bowling (usually followed by over or down).
  4. to carry or convey, as in a wheeled vehicle.
  5. Cricket. to eliminate (a batsman) by bowling (usually followed by out): He was bowled for a duck. He was bowled out for a duck.
Show More
Verb Phrases
  1. bowl over, to surprise greatly: We were bowled over by the news.
Show More

Origin of bowl

2
1375–1425; late Middle English bowle, variant of boule < Middle French < Latin bulla bubble, knob; cf. boil1, bola
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for bowl over

astonish, astound, dumbfound, flabbergast, floor, stagger, startle, stun, surprise
British Dictionary definitions for bowl over

bowl over

verb (tr, adverb)
  1. informal to surprise (a person) greatly, esp in a pleasant way; astound; amazehe was bowled over by our gift
  2. to knock (a person or thing) down; cause to fall over
Show More

bowl

1
noun
  1. a round container open at the top, used for holding liquid, keeping fruit, serving food, etc
  2. Also: bowlful the amount a bowl will hold
  3. the rounded or hollow part of an object, esp of a spoon or tobacco pipe
  4. any container shaped like a bowl, such as a sink or lavatory
  5. mainly US a bowl-shaped building or other structure, such as a football stadium or amphitheatre
  6. a bowl-shaped depression of the land surfaceSee also dust bowl
  7. literary
    1. a drinking cup
    2. intoxicating drink
Show More

Word Origin for bowl

Old English bolla; related to Old Norse bolli, Old Saxon bollo

bowl

2
noun
  1. a wooden ball used in the game of bowls, having flattened sides, one side usually being flatter than the other in order to make it run on a curved course
  2. a large heavy ball with holes for gripping with the fingers and thumb, used in tenpin bowling
Show More
verb
  1. to roll smoothly or cause to roll smoothly, esp by throwing underarm along the ground
  2. (intr usually foll by along) to move easily and rapidly, as in a car
  3. cricket
    1. to send (a ball) down the pitch from one's hand towards the batsman, keeping the arm straight while doing so
    2. Also: bowl outto dismiss (a batsman) by delivering a ball that breaks his wicket
  4. (intr) to play bowls or tenpin bowling
  5. (tr) (in tenpin bowling) to score (a specified amount)he bowled 120
Show More
See also bowl over, bowls

Word Origin for bowl

C15: from French boule, ultimately from Latin bulla bubble
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

Word Origin and History for bowl over

bowl

n.

Old English bolla "pot, cup, bowl," from Proto-Germanic *bul- "a round vessel" (cf. Old Norse bolle, Old High German bolla), from PIE *bhl-, from root *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole).

Show More

bowl

v.

"to roll a ball on the ground," typically as part of a game or contest, mid-15c., from bowl "wooden ball" (see bowls). Specifically of cricket from 1755; cricket use is source of late 19c. expressions bowl over, etc. Related: Bowled; bowling.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with bowl over

bowl over

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]

Show More
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.