plural boules
1
: a round, usually crusty loaf of bread
A big seller at Breadsmith … is the French boule, a solid lump of round bread, golden and slightly textured on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle. It works well as a bowl—slice off the top, hollow out its middle, and fill it with soup, chili or cheese fondue.—
Jennifer Lowe
Jennifer LoweMost people think of French bread only as long, slender loaves, but it is also commonly made into round loaves (boules) and dinner rolls …—Reader's Digest Crafts & Hobbies
Reader's Digest Crafts & Hobbies2
a
usually plural in form but singular in construction
: a bowling game of French origin in which a player standing within a circle placed or scratched on the ground throws or rolls usually steel balls down a long typically dirt or gravel court to stop as close as possible to a smaller target ball : petanque
Outside, on the groomed grounds, old generals from a different war played boules, the French game of lawn bowling.—William Prochnau
William ProchnauWhen we say boules, we should more properly be using the word pétanque, derived from the French for "feet anchored".—Guy Walters
Guy Walters
b
: the ball thrown or rolled in boules
… everyone knows the bowling game, which is similar to Italian boccie but played with baseball-sized … steel balls (boules) on dirt courts.—Barbara Jepson
Barbara Jepson3
: a synthetically formed mass (as of sapphire) with the atomic structure of a single crystal
4
: a game similar to roulette in which a ball is put in motion in a bowl and players bet on the numbered compartment it will come to rest in
plural boules
: a legislative council of ancient Greece consisting first of an aristocratic advisory body and later of a representative senate
Examples of boule in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Alexandra Zagalsky, theweek, 1 Nov. 2024
The girls play a game of boules (which is English for bocce) with the guys, and the losers have to jump into the pool.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 15 Apr. 2024
Anderson’s classic boules are as shapely and golden as any, but his most eye-catching bakes blend traditional sourdough techniques with bold spices and unexpected ingredients.
—The Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors, Bon Appétit, 13 Mar. 2024
The baguettes and boules, piled in a bakery window, do seem pointedly rubbery — the props of a Potemkin prosperity.
—Sophia Nguyen, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024
New York is saturated with glitzy pastry chefs turning out croissants and sourdough boules—but Librae, with its genre-bending flavors and manifold influences, emerges from the pack as the rare bakery with something new to say.
—The Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors, Bon Appétit, 13 Mar. 2024
Below, men and women, boys and girls played boules; others played soccer.
—Peter Heller, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Jan. 2024
To form a boule, pure silicon has to be heated in a special crucible to twenty-seven hundred degrees Fahrenheit.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023
Bob’s Well Bread A hub of the Santa Ynez Valley, Bob’s bakes up the valley’s best boules each morning for its two indoor-outdoor cafés serving the area—the original in Los Alamos and a second in Ballard.
—Hugh Garvey, Sunset Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023
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Noun
Indeed, stars such as Muhammad Ali, Yves Montand and Lino Ventura have all played a round of boules in the main square outside the Café de la Place.
—Alexandra Zagalsky, theweek, 1 Nov. 2024
The girls play a game of boules (which is English for bocce) with the guys, and the losers have to jump into the pool.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 15 Apr. 2024
Anderson’s classic boules are as shapely and golden as any, but his most eye-catching bakes blend traditional sourdough techniques with bold spices and unexpected ingredients.
—The Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors, Bon Appétit, 13 Mar. 2024
The baguettes and boules, piled in a bakery window, do seem pointedly rubbery — the props of a Potemkin prosperity.
—Sophia Nguyen, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024
New York is saturated with glitzy pastry chefs turning out croissants and sourdough boules—but Librae, with its genre-bending flavors and manifold influences, emerges from the pack as the rare bakery with something new to say.
—The Bon Appétit Staff & Contributors, Bon Appétit, 13 Mar. 2024
Below, men and women, boys and girls played boules; others played soccer.
—Peter Heller, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 Jan. 2024
To form a boule, pure silicon has to be heated in a special crucible to twenty-seven hundred degrees Fahrenheit.
—Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 2023
Bob’s Well Bread A hub of the Santa Ynez Valley, Bob’s bakes up the valley’s best boules each morning for its two indoor-outdoor cafés serving the area—the original in Los Alamos and a second in Ballard.
—Hugh Garvey, Sunset Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023
Dictionary Entries Near boule
Cite this Entry
“Boule.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boule. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.
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