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boll

English

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boll¹

  • /bɒl/ UK
  • /bəʊl/ UK
  • /boʊl/ US

Sounds like bole (some dialects), bowl (some dialects) · Rhymes with -ɒl, -əʊl

Where it comes from

From Middle English bolle (“pod; shell”) and Middle Dutch bolle (“round object”), from Frankish *bollo, all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *bullô (“round object; bowl”). More at bowl.

noun bolls

  1. The rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant. Sometimes the slave picks down one side of a row, and back upon the other, but more usually, there is one on either side, gathering all that has blossomed, leaving the unopened bolls for a succeeding picking.
  2. A protuberance or excrescence growing on the trunks of some trees, a burl.
  3. Scotland An old dry measure equal to six bushels. I ſowed on this Ground, without any Dung or Manure, a Lippy of Oats, from which I had a Boll wanting a Chopin.

verb bolls · bolling · bolled

  1. To form a boll or seed vessel; to go to seed. The barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.

Boll²

Where it comes from

* As a Danish and German surname, from Danish Bøll, German Böll.

* Also as a German surname, from the personal name Baldo (see Bold). Compare Boell.

* As an English surname, variant of Bull.

* Also as an English surname, from the noun bowl. Compare Bowler.

* As a Scottish surname, variant of Boyle.

proper noun Bolls · Boell

  1. A surname from German.
  2. A surname from Danish.

Translations

Every language

noun the rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant

Españolcápsula, vaina
Italianocapsula
Русскийсеменна́я коро́бочка semennája koróbočka, коро́бочка koróbočka

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MLA

"boll." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/boll. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

boll. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/boll

Chicago

"boll." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/boll.

BibTeX
@misc{boll_2026,
  title = {boll},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/boll},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}