# bowl

Pronunciation: say "BOHL" US /boʊl/, AUS /bɐʉl/; UK say "BOL" /bɒl/

## Noun

1. A roughly hemispherical container used to hold, mix, or present food such as soup, salad, or fruit.
   - Simple: A round, deep dish used to hold food like soup, salad, or fruit.
   - _The chef tossed the salad in a wide ceramic bowl._
   - _Mixing bowls of various sizes lined the kitchen shelf._
2. A postseason American football competition, such as the Rose Bowl or Super Bowl.
   - Simple: A special American football game played after the regular season ends.
   - _The Tigers earned a spot in a major bowl this December._
   - _Several bowls are played during the holiday season._
3. The amount that fills a bowl, thought of as a serving or measure of food or drink rather than the dish itself.
   - Simple: The amount of food or liquid that fills one bowl.
   - _The children finished a bowl of popcorn during the movie._
   - _After the hike, he wolfed down two bowls of chili._
5. A dish made of a mix of different foods, not all necessarily cooked, served together in a bowl.
   - Simple: A meal of different foods served together in one bowl.
   - _The café's signature bowl combines quinoa, roasted vegetables, and tahini._
   - _Poke bowls have become a popular lunch option in many cities._
7. The rounded, hollow part of an object, such as the part of a spoon that holds food or the basin of a fountain.
   - Simple: The round, hollow part of something, like the part of a spoon that holds the food.
   - _Rainwater gathered in the bowl of the old stone fountain._
   - _The bowl of the wineglass curved up from its slender stem._
8. An act or turn of bowling a ball, including a spell of bowling in cricket.
   - Simple: A turn at bowling, involving one ball or, in cricket, a series of balls.
   - _With the two batters well set, the captain turned to his part-time spinner and offered him a bowl from the river end._
   - _After a quiet morning in the field, she finally got a bowl just before tea and removed both openers._
12. The hollow part of a pipe, bong, or similar implement that holds the material to be burned.
   - Simple: The small hollow cup on a pipe or bong that holds the stuff you burn.
   - _She tapped the spent ash out of the bowl before refilling it._
   - _A clay pipe with a wide bowl rested on the windowsill._
9. An elliptical stadium or amphitheater whose curved, sloping sides resemble the shape of a bowl.
   - Simple: A large, round outdoor stadium or theater shaped like a deep dish.
   - _Crowds streamed into the bowl as the orchestra tuned up._
   - _On summer nights the city's open-air bowl fills with concertgoers, its curved rows of seats rising steeply above the stage._
10. A rounded crater or similar hollow depression in the ground.
   - Simple: A rounded hollow in the ground, with sides sloping toward a lower center.
   - _The meteorite left a shallow bowl in the desert floor._
   - _Snow gathers in the mountain's high bowls each winter._
13. A single helping of burnable material packed into a pipe or bong to be consumed at one time.
   - Simple: One filling of material packed into a pipe or bong to smoke at one time.
   - _She packed another bowl and passed the pipe around the circle._
   - _Back at the campsite, they smoked one bowl between them and spent the rest of the night watching the stars._
14. A haircut that trims straight hair to a single even line all around the head, giving it the shape of a bowl.
   - Simple: A haircut where straight hair is cut to the same length all around, like an upside-down bowl.
   - _In the old class photo, nearly every boy wears the same neat bowl, cut straight across the forehead._
   - _In old family photos, my brother wears the bowl haircut our mother gave him._
16. The curved stroke of a letter that encloses empty space, as in the letters d and o.
   - Simple: The round part of a printed letter that closes around an empty space, as in d and o.
   - _She narrowed the bowl of the lowercase a to balance the typeface._
   - _The bowl of the d meets the ascender at a sharp angle._
17. The ball itself, the solid object that a player rolls along the grass toward a target in the game of lawn bowls.
   - Simple: The heavy ball that players roll in the game of lawn bowls.
   - _Her final bowl nestled right beside the jack._
   - _He delivered each bowl with a smooth, low release._

## Verb

4. To play bowling or a similar game in which a ball is rolled.
   - Simple: To play bowling or a game like it, rolling a ball toward a target.
   - _We bowl in a local league every winter._
   - _She learned to bowl as a child at her grandfather's club._
6. In cricket and similar games, to deliver the ball to the batter in the way the rules require.
   - Simple: In cricket and games like it, to send the ball with a swing of the arm toward the player with the bat.
   - _The young player bowled tirelessly all afternoon._
   - _Teams take turns to bowl and to bat._
11. In cricket, to dismiss a batter with a delivery that strikes the wicket and dislodges the bails.
   - Simple: In cricket, to get a batter out with a ball that hits the wicket and knocks the bails off.
   - _Aim at the stumps: the surest way to bowl a nervous opener is a full, straight delivery._
   - _The veteran was bowled for 41 when a ball cut back off the seam and sent his bails flying._
15. To roll or carry along smoothly and quickly, as if on wheels.
   - Simple: To move along smoothly and quickly, like something rolling on wheels.
   - _Trucks bowl along the new highway without a single bump._
   - _On a clear morning it is a joy to bowl along the empty coastal road with the windows down._
18. To pelt or strike a target with something rolled.
   - Simple: To hit someone or something by rolling an object at them.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–3, 5, 7, 9–10, 12–14, 16** — From Middle English "bolle," from Old English "bolla" or "bolle" (bowl, cup, pot, beaker), going back to Proto-Germanic "*bullǭ" (ball, round vessel). It is related to Dutch "bol" (ball, sphere), German "Bolle" (bulb), and Icelandic "bolli" (cup).
**Meanings 4, 6, 8, 11, 15, 17–18** — Latin "bulla" (bubble, stud, round object) became Old French "boule" (ball), which passed into Middle English as "bowle." "Bull," as in "papal bull," is its doublet.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/bowl (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).