bowls

British

/ bəʊlz /

noun

1. a game played on a bowling green in which a small bowl (the jack) is pitched from a mark and two opponents or opposing teams take turns to roll biased wooden bowls towards it, the object being to finish as near the jack as possible
2. ( as modifier )
  
  a bowls tournament
skittles or tenpin bowling

"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

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.

There are around 30 of us, maybe more — all experiencing the soundscape of the quartz bowls; a tech-free hour designed for us to commune with memory, creativity and emotion.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

The workers fled, leaving behind uneaten bowls of noodles, half-drunk cans of coke and a pungent smell.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2026

His girlfriend, 25-year-old Jewel Rudolph, feels vindicated by her decision to start a business in 2019 selling açai bowls at farmers markets and not going to college like her mom wanted.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 22, 2026

For a pasta-heavy table, set out bowls of grated parmesan, toasted breadcrumbs and torn basil.

From Salon • Mar. 15, 2026

In the kitchen, her mom dished out two big bowls of ice cream and insisted that they eat up every last drop.

From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan

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