# bowl

> English word · Noun · IPA /boʊl/ · frequency rank #2,332

## Definitions
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 dish comprising a mix of different foods, not all of which need be cooked, served in a bowl.
4. A haircut in which straight hair is cut at an even height around the edges, forming a bowl shape.
5. The round hollow part of anything.
6. The round hollow part of anything.
7. The round hollow part of anything.
8. The round hollow part of anything.
9. The round hollow part of anything.
10. A round crater (or similar) in the ground.
11. An elliptical-shaped stadium or amphitheater resembling a bowl.
12. A postseason football competition, a bowl game (i.e. Rose Bowl, Super Bowl)

## Etymology
From Middle English bolle, from Old English bolla, bolle (“bowl, cup, pot, beaker, measure”), from Proto-West Germanic *bollā, from Proto-Germanic *bullǭ (“ball, round vessel, bowl”).
Cognate with North Frisian bol (“bun, bread roll”), Middle Low German bolle, bole (“round object”), Dutch bol (“ball, sphere, scoop, dot”), German Bolle (“bulb”), Danish bolle (“bowl, bread roll”), Icelandic bolli (“cup”). Doublet of boule and pulla.

## Easily confused with
- **BW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-bw)
- **boy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-boy)
- **box** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-box)
- **BTW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-btw)
- **boys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-boys)
- **bull** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-bull)
- **Boyd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-boyd)
- **brow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-brow)
- **bows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-bows)
- **boyz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-boyz)
- **boxy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-boxy)
- **bozo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-bozo)
- **brown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-brown)
- **bowls** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-bowls)
- **brawl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-brawl)
- **Boyle** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-boyle)
- **brows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-brows)
- **bowler** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-bowler)
- **bowled** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-bowled)
- **Bowles** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bowl-vs-bowles)

## Common misspellings (6)
`bbowl`, `bolw`, `bowll`, `bowwl`, `bwol`, `obwl`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bowl