Bowling

any of several games in which players standing at one end of an alley or green roll balls at standing objects or toward a mark at the other end, especially a game in which a heavy ball is rolled from one end of a wooden alley at wooden pins set up at the opposite end.
Compare boccie, candlepins (def 2), duckpins (def 2), lawn bowling, ninepins (def 1), tenpins (def 1).
the game of bowls; lawn bowling.
an act or instance of playing or participating in any such game:
Bowling is a pleasant way to exercise.
a rather deep, round dish or basin, used chiefly for holding liquids, food, etc.
the contents of a bowl:
a bowl of tomato soup.
a rounded, cuplike, hollow part:
the bowl of a pipe.
a large drinking cup.
festive drinking; conviviality.
any bowl-shaped depression or formation.
an edifice with tiers of seats forming sides like those of a bowl, having the arena at the bottom; stadium.
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.
Typography. a curved or semicircular line of a character, as of a, d, b, etc.
to give (a floor) a gentle inclination on all sides toward some area, as a stage or platform.
one of the balls, having little or no bias, used in playing ninepins or tenpins.
one of the biased or weighted balls used in lawn bowling.
bowls, (used with a singular verb) lawn bowling.
a delivery of the ball in bowling or lawn bowling.
(formerly) a rotating cylindrical part in a machine, as one to reduce friction.
to play at bowling or bowls; participate in or have a game or games of bowling.
to roll a bowl or ball.
to move along smoothly and rapidly.
Cricket. to deliver the ball to be played by the batsman.
to roll or trundle, as a ball or hoop.
to attain by bowling:
He bowls a good game. She usually bowls a 120 game, but today she bowled 180.
to knock or strike, as by the ball in bowling (usually followed by over or down).
to carry or convey, as in a wheeled vehicle.
Cricket. to eliminate (a batsman) by bowling (usually followed by out):
He was bowled for a duck. He was bowled out for a duck.
bowl over, to surprise greatly:
We were bowled over by the news.
Contemporary Examples

It’s Time to Turn Off TV Doctors April Siese June 22, 2014
R.I.P., GM Stephen Miller May 30, 2009
What the Leaked J.D. Salinger Stories Reveal About the Author Andrew Romano November 29, 2013
2012’s Presidential Whiners Howard Kurtz May 28, 2011
The Biggest Rand Paul Outrage Yet Kent Sepkowitz June 14, 2010

Historical Examples

The Second Violin Grace S. Richmond
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise M. E. Hard
A Guide to the Mount’s Bay and the Land’s End John Ayrton Paris
Howards End E. M. Forster
The Motor Pirate George Sidney Paternoster

noun
any of various games in which a heavy ball is rolled down a special alley, usually made of wood, at a group of wooden pins, esp the games of tenpin bowling (tenpins) and skittles (ninepins)
the game of bowls
(cricket) the act of delivering the ball to the batsman
(modifier) of or relating to bowls or bowling: a bowling team
noun
a round container open at the top, used for holding liquid, keeping fruit, serving food, etc
Also bowlful. the amount a bowl will hold
the rounded or hollow part of an object, esp of a spoon or tobacco pipe
any container shaped like a bowl, such as a sink or lavatory
(mainly US) a bowl-shaped building or other structure, such as a football stadium or amphitheatre
a bowl-shaped depression of the land surface See also dust bowl
(literary)

a drinking cup
intoxicating drink

noun
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
a large heavy ball with holes for gripping with the fingers and thumb, used in tenpin bowling
verb
to roll smoothly or cause to roll smoothly, esp by throwing underarm along the ground
(intransitive) usually foll by along. to move easily and rapidly, as in a car
(cricket)

to send (a ball) down the pitch from one’s hand towards the batsman, keeping the arm straight while doing so
Also bowl out. to dismiss (a batsman) by delivering a ball that breaks his wicket

(intransitive) to play bowls or tenpin bowling
(transitive) (in tenpin bowling) to score (a specified amount): he bowled 120
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