I. bowl 1 S2 W3 /bəʊl $ boʊl/ BrE AmE noun
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: bolla ]
1 . CONTAINER [countable] a wide round container that is open at the top, used to hold liquids, food, flowers etc ⇨ dish :
Mix all the ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl.
Fill the bowl with water.
a mixing/serving bowl (=a bowl used for mixing foods or serving them)
Beat the butter in a mixing bowl until creamy and soft.
a soup/salad/cereal etc bowl (=a bowl to eat or serve soup, salad etc from)
2 . AMOUNT [countable] ( also bowlful ) the amount of something contained in a bowl
bowl of
a bowl of rice
a bowl of fruit
3 . GAME
a) bowls British English [plural] an outdoor game played on grass, in which you try to roll big balls as near as possible to a small ball SYN lawn bowling American English
b) [countable usually singular] a special game in American football played by the best teams after the normal playing season:
the Rose Bowl
4 . BALL [countable] British English a ball that you use in the game of bowls
5 . SHAPE [countable] the part of an object such as a spoon, pipe, toilet etc that is shaped like a bowl:
the bowl of a pipe
a toilet/lavatory bowl
6 . STADIUM [countable usually singular] American English a large ↑ stadium shaped like a bowl, where people go to watch special events such as sports games or music ↑ concert s :
the Hollywood Bowl
• • •
COLLOCATIONS
■ types of bowl
▪ a soup/cereal/pudding bowl (=for eating soup, cereal etc from)
These work well as pasta or cereal bowls.
▪ a salad/sugar/fruit bowl (=for serving salad etc)
There are some apples in the fruit bowl if you want one.
▪ a mixing bowl (=for mixing foods)
Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
▪ a serving bowl (=for serving foods)
She put the strawberries in a glass serving bowl.
▪ a washing-up bowl (=for washing the dishes in)
a plastic washing-up bowl
▪ a wooden/china/glass etc bowl
I broke a china bowl.
II. bowl 2 BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: bowl 'ball used in bowling' (15-21 centuries) , from Old French boule , from Latin bulla 'bubble' ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to roll a ball along a surface when you are playing the game of bowls
2 .
a) [I, T] to throw a ball at the ↑ batsman (=the person who hits the ball) in ↑ cricket ⇨ bat
b) [transitive] to make a batsman have to leave the field by throwing a ball so that it hits the ↑ wicket behind him
3 . [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] to travel along very quickly and smoothly
bowl along/down
We were bowling along at about 90 miles per hour.
bowl somebody ↔ out phrasal verb
in ↑ cricket , when a team is bowled out, each member of the team has had to leave the field and there is no one left to ↑ bat
bowl somebody ↔ over phrasal verb
1 . to accidentally hit someone and knock them down because you are running in a place that is full of people or things SYN knock over
2 . to surprise, please, or excite someone very much SYN knock out :
He was bowled over by her beauty.
• • •
THESAURUS
■ to throw a ball in a sport
▪ pass to throw the ball to another member of your team:
He passed the ball to Wilkinson, who kicked the ball over the goalposts.
▪ pitch to throw the ball to the batter in a game of baseball:
Stoddard pitched for the Chicago White Sox.
▪ bowl to throw the ball towards the person who is batting in a game of cricket:
Harmison bowled superbly and took 5 wickets.