bola

noun

bo·​la ˈbō-lə How to pronounce bola (audio)
variants or bolas
plural bolas ˈbō-ləz How to pronounce bola (audio) also bolases
: a cord with weights attached to the ends for throwing at and entangling an animal

Illustration of bola

Illustration of bola

Examples of bola in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The game is played in rounds, and each player has three bolas and must throw all three before the next player can go. Moriah Mason, Southern Living, 31 Aug. 2023 Meanwhile Devin and Tori land their last bola and have to drink three smoothies before continuing on, and the projectile vomiting commences. Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 2 Feb. 2023 Bananas and Nany then sabotage Olivia and Horacio with a smoothie, but Olivia somehow cuts her finger while throwing a bola and there's blood everywhere. Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 2 Feb. 2023 First, during a bola-throwing competition, the karabiner connecting the rope to the balls got caught on Kaiser’s finger and sliced it open. Emily Longeretta, Variety, 1 Feb. 2023 Axel Perez, his nephew, swings and sways atop the rolla bola, a platform balanced atop one or more rolling cylinders. Alexis Soloski Seth Caplan, New York Times, 25 Nov. 2022 The rules are very simple: throw your bola (two balls connected by a string) onto the ladder and try to knock down your opponents' bolas. Laura Wheatman Hill, chicagotribune.com, 3 Apr. 2021 Or a bowl of caldo de bola, always served on Wednesdays. New York Times, 12 Mar. 2020 There are nearly as many uses for silk as there are species of spider (more than 45,000), yet even among silk-throwing bolas spiders, sneaky trapdoor spiders, and even electrostatically powered flying baby spiders, Hyptiotes stands out. Kenrick Vezina, National Geographic, 13 May 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bola.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

American Spanish bolas, from Spanish bola ball

First Known Use

1818, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bola was in 1818

Dictionary Entries Near bola

Cite this Entry

“Bola.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bola. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

bola

noun
bo·​la ˈbō-lə How to pronounce bola (audio)
variants or bolas
plural bolas
-ləz
: a cord with weights attached to the ends for throwing at and entangling an animal
Etymology

American Spanish bolas "bola," from Spanish bola "ball"

More from Merriam-Webster on bola

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