3 VERB If you bow to pressure or to someone's wishes, you agree to do what they want you to do. □ [V + to ] Some shops are bowing to consumer pressure and stocking organically grown vegetables.
4 V-PASSIVE If you are bowed by something, you are made unhappy and anxious by it, and lose hope. □ [be V -ed] …their determination not to be bowed in the face of the allied attacks. ● PHRASAL VERB To be bowed down means the same as to be bowed . □ [be V -ed P ] I am bowed down by my sins.
▸ bow down
1 PHRASAL VERB If you refuse to bow down to another person, you refuse to show them respect or to behave in a way which you think would make you seem weaker or less important than them. □ [V P + to ] We should not have to bow down to anyone.
2 → see also bow ➊ 4
▸ bow out PHRASAL VERB If you bow out of something, you stop taking part in it. [WRITTEN ] □ [V P ] He had bowed out gracefully when his successor had been appointed. [Also + of ]
➋ bow /baʊ / (bows ) N‑COUNT The front part of a ship is called the bow or the bows . The plural bows can be used to refer either to one or to more than one of these parts. □ The waves were about five feet now, and the bow of the boat was leaping up and down.
➌ bow /boʊ / (bows )
1 N‑COUNT A bow is a knot with two loops and two loose ends that is used in tying shoelaces and ribbons. □ Add a length of ribbon tied in a bow.
2 N‑COUNT A bow is a weapon for shooting arrows which consists of a long piece of curved wood with a string attached to both its ends. □ Some of the raiders were armed with bows and arrows.
3 N‑COUNT The bow of a violin or other stringed instrument is a long thin piece of wood with fibres stretched along it, which you move across the strings of the instrument in order to play it.
bowd|ler|ize /baʊ dləra I z, [AM ] boʊ d-/ (bowdlerizes , bowdlerizing , bowdlerized ) in BRIT, also use bowdlerise VERB To bowdlerize a book or film means to take parts of it out before publishing it or showing it. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [V n] I'm bowdlerizing it–just slightly changing one or two words so listeners won't be upset. □ [V -ed] …a bowdlerised version of the song.
bowed Pronounced /boʊ d/ for meaning 1 , and /baʊ d/ for meaning 2 . 1 ADJ Something that is bowed is curved. □ …an old lady with bowed legs.
2 ADJ If a person's body is bowed , it is bent forward. □ He walked aimlessly along street after street, head down and shoulders bowed.
3 → see also bow ➊
bow|el /baʊ əl/ (bowels )
1 N‑COUNT Your bowels are the tubes in your body through which digested food passes from your stomach to your anus.
2 N‑PLURAL You can refer in a polite way to someone getting rid of the waste from their body by saying that they move, open, or empty their bowels .
3 N‑PLURAL You can refer to the parts deep inside something such as the earth, a building, or a machine as the bowels of that thing. [HUMOROUS or LITERARY ] □ …deep in the bowels of the earth. □ Lyn went off into the dark bowels of the building.
bow|er /baʊə r / (bowers ) N‑COUNT A bower is a shady, leafy shelter in a garden or wood. [LITERARY ]
bowl ◆◇◇ /boʊ l/ (bowls , bowling , bowled )
1 N‑COUNT A bowl is a round container with a wide uncovered top. Some kinds of bowl are used, for example, for serving or eating food from, or in cooking, while other larger kinds are used for washing or cleaning. □ Put all the ingredients into a large bowl.
2 N‑COUNT The contents of a bowl can be referred to as a bowl of something. □ [+ of ] …a bowl of soup.
3 N‑COUNT You can refer to the hollow rounded part of an object as its bowl . □ [+ of ] He smacked the bowl of his pipe into his hand. □ …the toilet bowl.
4 N‑UNCOUNT Bowls is a game in which players try to roll large wooden balls as near as possible to a small wooden ball. Bowls is usually played outdoors on grass. [BRIT ] in AM, use lawn bowling 5 N‑COUNT [usu pl] A set of bowls is a set of round wooden balls that you play bowls with.
6 VERB In a sport such as cricket, when a bowler bowls a ball, he or she sends it down the pitch towards a batsman. □ [V n] I can't see the point of bowling a ball like that. □ [V ] He bowled so well that we won two matches.
7 VERB If you bowl along in a car or on a boat, you move along very quickly, especially when you are enjoying yourself. □ [V prep/adv] Veronica looked at him, smiling, as they bowled along.
8 N‑COUNT A large stadium where sports or concerts take place is sometimes called a Bowl . □ …the Crystal Palace Bowl. □ …the Rose Bowl.
9 → see also bowling , begging bowl , fruit bowl , mixing bowl , punch bowl , salad bowl , sugar bowl
▸ bowl over
1 PHRASAL VERB To bowl someone over means to push them and make them fall to the ground. □ [be V -ed P ] The only physical risk I ran was being bowled over by one of the many joggers. □ [V n P ] Some people had to cling to trees as the flash flood bowled them over. [Also V P n]
2 PHRASAL VERB If you are bowled over by something, you are very impressed or surprised by it. □ [be V -ed P ] Like any tourist, I was bowled over by India. □ [V n P ] …a man who bowled her over with his humour and charm. [Also V P n]