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bowl1 definition

bowl (bōl)

noun

  1. a deep, rounded container or dish, open at the top
  2. the capacity or contents of a bowl
  3. a thing or part shaped like a bowl; specif.,
    1. the rounded or hollow part of a spoon or smoking pipe
    2. washbowl
    3. the basin of a toilet
    4. a hollow land formation
  4. in full bowl game
    1. an amphitheater or stadium
    2. any of various football games played annually after the regular season between teams selected for their superior records
  5. Archaic a large drinking vessel

Etymology: ME bolle < OE bolla, cup, bowl < IE base *bhel-, to swell, inflate (see ball); infl. in OE by L bulla, bubble, ball

Related Forms:

bowl2 definition

bowl (bōl)

noun

  1. the wooden ball rolled at the target ball, or jack, in the game of lawn bowling: it is weighted or shaped to give it a bias when rolling
  2. a roll of the ball in bowling or lawn bowling
  3. a roller, drum, or wheel, as in some machines

Etymology: ME & OFr boule < L bulla, bubble, knob: see boil

intransitive verb

  1. to participate or take a turn in bowling or lawn bowling
  2. to roll a ball with an underhand motion, as in bowling or lawn bowling
  3. to move swiftly and smoothly the car bowled steadily along
  4. Cricket to throw a ball to the batsman

transitive verb

  1. to throw so as to make roll; roll
  2. to make a score of in bowling to bowl 180
  3. to cause to move along swiftly and smoothly, as on wheels
  4. Cricket to put (a batsman out) by bowling the balls off the wicket
bowl Idioms

bowl over

  1. to knock over with or as with something rolled
  2. Informal to astonish and confuse; stagger the election results bowled them over

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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