bowl

¹ American  

[bohl] / boʊl /

noun

1. a rather deep, round dish or basin, used chiefly for holding liquids, food, etc.

2. the contents of a bowl.

   a bowl of tomato soup.

3. a rounded, cuplike, hollow part.

   the bowl of a pipe.

4. a large drinking cup.

5. festive drinking; conviviality.

6. any bowl-shaped depression or formation.

7. an edifice with tiers of seats forming sides like those of a bowl, having the arena at the bottom; stadium.

8. Also called bowl game.  a football game played after the regular season by teams selected by the sponsors of the game, usually as representing the best from a region of the country.

   the Rose Bowl.

9. Typography. a curved or semicircular line of a character, as of a, d, b, etc.

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verb (used with object)

1. to give (a floor) a gentle inclination on all sides toward some area, as a stage or platform.

bowl ² American  

[bohl] / boʊl /

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. (used with a singular verb) bowls, 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.

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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.

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 ordown ).

4. to carry or convey, as in a wheeled vehicle.

5. Cricket. to eliminate (a batsman) by bowling (usually followed byout ).

   He was bowled for a duck.

   He was bowled out for a duck.

verb phrase

1. bowl over to surprise greatly.

   We were bowled over by the news.

bowl ¹ British  

/ bəʊl /

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. a bowl-shaped building or other structure, such as a football stadium or amphitheatre

6. a bowl-shaped depression of the land surface See also dust bowl

7. literary

   1. a drinking cup

   2. intoxicating drink

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bowl ² British  

/ bəʊl /

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

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verb

1. to roll smoothly or cause to roll smoothly, esp by throwing underarm along the ground

2. 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 out.  to 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

Other Word Forms

• bowllike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of bowl¹

First recorded before 950; Middle English bolle, Old English bolla; cognate with Old Norse bolli; see also boll

Origin of bowl²

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English boule, bule, bowle, from Middle French, from Latin bulla “bubble, knob”; cf. boil ¹, bola

Explanation

A bowl is a rounded dish that holds food. Many people start the day with a bowl of cereal. You might keep your sugar in a sugar bowl, or stir up a batch of brownies in a big mixing bowl. In either case, you've got a wide dish with curved sides that's open on the top. You can call other things with a similar shape bowls too, like a toilet bowl or the bowl of a spoon. When bowl is a verb, it means to roll or throw a ball in a game.

Example Sentences

Their weekend offered drag performances, a crystal bowl sound bath, a disco nap break and 32 custom looks for the wedding party featuring florals, feathers, corsets and capes.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026

I briefly considered adding peas or carrots for extra color, but decided against crowding the bowl.

From Salon • May 12, 2026

Sometimes I’ll just eat a bowl of cereal and call it a night.

From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026

Malaysia is resorting to cloud seeding to bring much-needed rain to the country's "rice bowl" north, where a drought has delayed planting of the staple crop and raised supply fears.

From Barron's • May 8, 2026

She broke an egg on the edge of a mixing bowl.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Related Words

• basin
• dish
• pot
• urn