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    bowl

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    bowl
    I
    bowl1 S2 W3 /bəʊl $ boʊl/ 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 concerts:
        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
    bowl2 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.