bowling
noun
Bowling — the rolling sport that turns precision into ten-pin satisfaction
Definition
The playing of a game of tenpins or duckpins etc
In depth
Bowling names the playing of a game in which a heavy ball is rolled down a lane toward a set of standing pins, traditionally ten in number, though variants like duckpins use different configurations. The word describes both the recreational sport and the precise physical motion at its center, the deliberate, weighted release of the ball.
Origin
The word descends from Old French boule, a ball, ultimately from Latin bulla, a bubble or round object. The sport's long history, with roots traceable to ancient Egypt and medieval Europe, has given the word remarkable staying power across centuries and continents, even as the specific rules and equipment evolved considerably along the way.
Usage examples
"Friday nights, for as long as anyone could remember, had belonged to league bowling at the old alley downtown."
"She had taken up bowling almost by accident, surprised by how quickly the rhythm of it became addictive."
"The championship came down to a single, nearly impossible final frame of bowling."
How to use it
Bowling is plain, accessible vocabulary suited to everyday and sports writing, carrying mild nostalgic or working-class cultural associations in much American literature, often evoked to suggest community, ritual, or a particular mid-twentieth-century social texture.
Related concepts
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