Definition

1. Noun:
   • A large, rounded rock: A "bowlder" is a large, smooth, rounded mass of rock that has been detached from its original bedrock location, typically through weathering and erosion, and often transported by natural forces like glaciers or water.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • The hikers rested on a massive bowlder in the middle of the stream.
  • The ancient bowlder, smoothed by centuries of glacial movement, marked the entrance to the valley.

Advanced Usage

• "Glacial bowlder": A large rock transported and deposited by a glacier.
  • The field was dotted with glacial bowlders, evidence of the ice age.
• "Erratic bowlder": A bowlder that differs in composition from the bedrock on which it rests, indicating it was carried from a distant location.
  • Geologists studied the erratic bowlder to determine its origin.

Variants and Related Words

• Boulder (n): The more common modern spelling of "bowlder." Both words have the same meaning.
  • The climber scaled the granite boulder.
• Bowldery (adj): An archaic adjective meaning resembling or full of bowlders.
  • The bowldery terrain made the path difficult to walk.

Synonyms

• Rock: A general term for a solid mineral mass.
• Stone: A small piece of rock.
• Monolith: A large, single upright block of stone.

Related Phrases

(Note: "Bowlder" itself is a noun and does not form phrasal verbs. Phrases typically use the more common spelling "boulder.") - Boulder field: An area covered with many large rocks. - They trekked carefully through the boulder field.

Related Idioms

(Note: Common idioms use the spelling "boulder.") - Like a rolling stone (or boulder): Referring to something that moves and gains momentum, often used metaphorically. - His idea gained support and moved forward like a rolling boulder. - A boulder in the road: A metaphor for a significant obstacle. - The legal issue was a boulder in the road of the project's progress.

Noun

1. a large smooth mass of rock detached from its place of origin