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
The ball fizzed along the turf with a trajectory and precision usually seen on the bowling green – except this was played at defence-splitting speed.
From The Guardian • Aug. 14, 2019
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
They were to be imparted, to begin with, on the smooth sward of the bowling green.
From Lines in Pleasant Places Being the Aftermath of an Old Angler by Senior, William
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.
