bowling alley

[ boh-ling al-ee ]

noun

1. a building or enclosed area containing a number of lanes or alleys for the game of bowling.
2. any of these long, narrow wooden lanes or alleys.

bowling alley

noun

1. 1. a long narrow wooden lane down which the ball is rolled in tenpin bowling
   2. a similar lane or alley, usually with raised sides, for playing skittles (ninepins)
2. a building having several lanes for tenpin bowling

Word History and Origins

Origin of bowling alley¹

First recorded in 1545–55

Example Sentences

The nearest movie theater and bowling alley are 45 minutes away, in Beckley.

From The Daily Beast

I was at a bowling alley once and a really sleazy guy asked me (a girl) out, instead I told him I had a girlfriend.

From The Daily Beast

Mitt Romney is not the guy who hangs around our local bowling alley gorging on pizza.

From The Daily Beast

They like candidates who can hang at the bowling alley or the barbecue.

From The Daily Beast

You get a nice mansion with backyard, a bowling alley, a chef, your own helicopter, and an impressive pile of nuclear weapons.

From The Daily Beast

The library, the gymnasium, the bowling-alley, opened from the prayer-room.

From Project Gutenberg

Well, theres a pool-room on the street above and a bowling-alley across the square, chuckled the waiter.

From Project Gutenberg

In the gleam that came from the bowling alley behind me, something showed softly red and green and white against the wooden door.

From Project Gutenberg

Jenkins measured the alley with his eyes and figured it to be just about the length of a conventional bowling alley.

From Project Gutenberg

The crew had used the cheeses and some bottles from the galley,The day before, to improvise a sort of bowling-alley.

From Project Gutenberg