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Glite Dictionary
bosie ball

bosie ball

9.9
A cricket ball bowled to look like it will turn one way but turns the other
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : bola engañosa
  • The bowler surprised the batsman with a bosie ball that spun sharply the other way.

Examples

  • Some cricket fans still call the googly a bosie ball in honor of its inventor.

  • The bowler delivered a perfect bosie ball.

  • It's difficult for new players to spot a bosie ball when it's delivered well.

  • Did you see that bosie ball he bowled?

  • The bowler surprised the batsman with a bosie ball that spun sharply the other way.

  • It's difficult for new players to spot a bosie ball when it's delivered well.

  • Some cricket fans still call the googly a bosie ball in honor of its inventor.

Synonyms

googly
vsbosie ball
  • UK
7 9.6

A cricket ball bowled with spin that looks like it will turn one way but turns the other

uses a descriptive phrase rather than the single technical label
bosie
vsbosie ball
  • Archaic
9.9

A cricket ball that seems to turn one way but turns the other

is the two-word descriptive phrase referring to the same delivery
wrong 'un
vsbosie ball
  • Jargon
9.9

A ball bowled to look like a leg break but that turns the other way

is the general descriptive phrase used for that same deceptive delivery
goggly
vsbosie ball
  • Jargon
9.9

A cricket ball bowled to spin the other way and fool the batsman

is the broader descriptive phrase not tied to a specific bowling style

Surface Forms

bosie ball singular
bosie balls plural

Morphology

bosie + ball

The compound is compositionally built: 'bosie' names a particular kind of cricket delivery and 'ball' is the object, so 'bosie ball' straightforwardly denotes a ball exhibiting that delivery. This noun+noun pattern is a regular English type-labeling construction, so a learner who already knows the meaning of 'bosie' and 'ball' can derive the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Bosie ball comes from the name of a bowler, Bernard Bosanquet, who was called Bosie. He bowled a spinning ball that looked like it would turn one way but actually turned the other, so the name means 'a ball that spins the opposite way'.