What is "bowl"

Bowl \Bowl\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bowled; p. pr. & vb. n. Bowling.]

1. To roll, as a bowl or cricket ball.

   Break all the spokes and fellies from her wheel, And bowl the round nave down the hill of heaven.
   --Shak.

2. To roll or carry smoothly on, or as on, wheels; as, we were bowled rapidly along the road.

3. To pelt or strike with anything rolled.

   Alas, I had rather be set quick i' the earth, And bowled to death with turnips?
   --Shak.

   To bowl (a player) out, in cricket, to put out a striker by knocking down a bail or a stump in bowling.

Bowl \Bowl\ (b[=o]l), n. [OE. bolle, AS. bolla; akin to Icel. bolli, Dan. bolle, G. bolle, and perh. to E. boil a tumor. Cf. Boll.]

1. A concave vessel of various forms (often approximately hemispherical), to hold liquids, etc.

   Brought them food in bowls of basswood.
   --Longfellow.

2. Specifically, a drinking vessel for wine or other spirituous liquors; hence, convivial drinking.

3. The contents of a full bowl; what a bowl will hold.

4. The hollow part of a thing; as, the bowl of a spoon.

Bowl \Bowl\ (b[=o]l), n. [F. boule, fr. L. bulla bubble, stud. Cf. Bull an edict, Bill a writing.]

1. A ball of wood or other material used for rolling on a level surface in play; a ball of hard wood having one side heavier than the other, so as to give it a bias when rolled.

2. pl. An ancient game, popular in Great Britain, played with biased balls on a level plat of greensward.

   Like an uninstructed bowler, . . . who thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straightforward upon it.
   --Sir W. Scott.

3. pl. The game of tenpins or bowling. [U.S.]

Bowl \Bowl\, v. i.

1. To play with bowls.

2. To roll a ball on a plane, as at cricket, bowls, etc.

3. To move rapidly, smoothly, and like a ball; as, the carriage bowled along.

Old English bolla "pot, cup, bowl," from Proto-Germanic *bul- "a round vessel" (cognates: Old Norse bolle, Old High German bolla), from PIE *bhl-, from root *bhel- (2) "to blow, inflate, swell" (see bole).

"to roll a ball on the ground," typically as part of a game or contest, mid-15c., from bowl "wooden ball" (see bowls). Specifically of cricket from 1755; cricket use is source of late 19c. expressions bowl over, etc. Related: Bowled; bowling.

Etymology 1 n. 1 A roughly hemispherical container used to hold, mix or present food, such as salad, fruit or soup, or other items. 2 As much as is held by a bowl. 3 A haircut in which straight hair is cut at an even height around the edges, forming a bowl shape. 4 A round crater (or similar) in the ground. 5 The part of a spoon that holds content, as opposed to the handle. 6 a part of a pipe or bong packed with marijuana for smoking 7 (label en sports) An elliptical-shaped stadium or amphitheater resembling a bowl. 8 (label en American football) a postseason football competition, a bowl game (i.e. Rose Bowl, Super Bowl) Etymology 2

n. 1 The ball rolled by players in the game of lawn bowls. 2 The action of bowling a ball. 3 (label en in the plural but used with a singular verb) The game of bowls. vb. (label en transitive) To roll or throw (a ball) in the correct manner in cricket and similar games and sports.

1. v. roll (a ball)

2. engage in the sport of bowling; "My parents like to bowl on Friday nights"

1. n. a round vessel that is open at the top; used for holding fruit or liquids or for serving food

2. a concave shape with an open top [syn: trough]

3. a dish that is round and open at the top for serving foods

4. the quantity contained in a bowl [syn: bowlful]

5. a large structure for open-air sports or entertainments [syn: stadium, arena, sports stadium]

6. a wooden ball (with flattened sides) used in the game of bowls

7. a small round container that is open at the top for holding tobacco [syn: pipe bowl]

A bowl is a common vessel used to serve food.

Bowl(s) or The Bowl may also refer to:

A bowl is a round, open-top container used in many cultures to serve hot and cold food. Bowls are also used for drinking, as in the case of caffè latte. Bowls used for storing non-food items range from small bowls used for holding tips at a coffee shop to large bowls used for storing DVDs or CDs. Bowls are typically small and shallow, as in the case of bowls used for single servings of soup or cereal. Some bowls, such as punch bowls, serving bowls, fruit bowls and salad bowls are larger and often intended to serve many people.

The British/American standard soup bowl has a mouth, the opening not including the extent of its lip, with a diameter of 18.5 centimetres, and should be able to adequately accommodate at least 24 ounces of liquid.

Modern bowls can be made of ceramic, metal, wood, plastic, and other materials. Their appearance can range from very simple designs of a single color to designs sophisticated artwork.

Bowls have existed for thousands of years. Very early bowls have been found in China, Ancient Greece, Crete and in certain Native American cultures.

In classical Greece, small bowls, including phiales and pateras, and bowl-shaped cups called kylices were used. History of Ancient Pottery describes how phiales were used for libations and included a small dent in the center for the bowl to be held with a finger, although one source indicates that these were used to hold perfume rather than wine. Some Mediterranean examples from the Bronze Age manifest elaborate decoration and sophistication of design. For example the bridge spouted vessel design appeared in Minoan at Phaistos. In the 4th century BCE, evidence exists that the Uruk culture of ancient Mesopotamia mass-produced beveled rim bowls of standardized sizes. Moreover, in Chinese pottery, there are many elaborately painted bowls and other vessels dating to the Neolithic period. As of 2009, the oldest found is 18,000 years old.

In examining bowls found during an archaeological dig in North America, the anthropologist Vincas Steponaitis defines a bowl by its dimensions, writing that a bowl's diameter rarely falls under half its height and that historic bowls can be classified by their edge, or lip, and shape.

A pipe bowl, when referred to in pipe smoking, is the part of a smoking pipe or bong which is used to hold tobacco, cannabis, or other substances.

The exterior surface of the bowl of some pipes may be fashioned with some kind of design. The character Henry Flower, in James Joyce's Ulysses carries a tobacco pipe with the bowl carved into a head: "He carries a silverstringed inlaid dulcimer and a longstemmed bamboo Jacob’s pipe, its clay bowl fashioned as a female head."

Thomas Curtis' London Encyclopaedia of 1839 describes a " fumigator", an instrument found in a doctor's surgery "for injecting tobacco smoke into the anus of drowned persons, with a view to excite the irritability of the muscles". Curtis describes the best as being made by a W. Willurgby "the bowl of which is of cast brass and is large enough to contain about an ounce and a half of tobacco".

Scholarly interest in the history of the evolution of the bowl of the clay tobacco pipe, extends as far back as 1863. In the 1860s antiquaries attempted to date clay pipe bowls by their evolving shapes and sizes.

The bowls of ceremonial pipes used by some indigenous American nations are often carved from red pipestone or catlinite, a fine-grained easily worked stone of a rich red color of the Coteau des Prairies, west of the Big Stone Lake in South Dakota. The pipestone quarries have traditionally been neutral ground among warring tribes, as people from multiple nations journeyed to the quarry to obtain the sacred pipestone. Sacred ceremonial pipes are not used for smoking intoxicants, but rather to offer prayers in a spiritual or religious ceremony.