bowlder [bohl-der] Examples noun
boulder or bowl·der [bohl-der] noun
- a detached and rounded or worn rock, especially a large one.
Origin of boulder 1610–20; short for boulder stone; Middle English bulderston Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish bullersten big stone (in a stream), equivalent to buller rumbling noise (Old Swedish bulder) + sten stone Related formsboul·dered, adjectiveboul·der·y, adjectiveCan be confusedbolder boulderboulder cobblestone granule pebble rock stone Examples from the Web for bowlder Historical Examples of bowlder
It was like throwing pebbles at the bowlder in the Malad, the day before.
B. M. Bower
“Give Mrs. Bowlder my regards,” said the journalist, comprehending the symbolism.
Booth Tarkington
At that I looked to the other side of the bowlder, and there was my friend of the monkey jacket.
Hall Caine
“I won’t waste any arrows on him,” said the boy on the top of the bowlder.
William O. Stoddard
Already the bowlder had been pushed 371 out at the top many inches.
Robert Ames Bennet
British Dictionary definitions for bowlder boulder noun
- a smooth rounded mass of rock that has a diameter greater than 25cm and that has been shaped by erosion and transported by ice or water from its original position
- geology a rock fragment with a diameter greater than 256 mm and thus bigger than a cobble
Derived Formsbouldery, adjectiveWord Origin for boulder C13: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Swedish dialect bullersten, from Old Swedish bulder rumbling + sten stone Word Origin and History for bowlder boulder n.
1670s, variant of Middle English bulder (c.1300), from a Scandinavian source akin to Swedish dialectal bullersten “noisy stone” (large stone in a stream, causing water to roar around it), from bullra “to roar” + sten “stone.” Or the first element might be from *buller- “round object,” from Proto-Germanic *bul-, from PIE *bhel- (2) “to inflate, swell” (see bole).