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punch bowl

punch bowl

12 2.6
A large deep bowl for serving drinks at parties
  • noun
  • /pʌnʧ boʊl/
translation icon : ponchera
  • She ladled the delicious mixture into the punch bowl for everyone to enjoy.
  • punch bowl and a ladle
  • silver punch bowl
  • glass punch bowl

Why have a mirror ball and a punch bowl when you can just have the mirror punch bowl?

Examples

  • Get me to the punch bowl, Mother.

  • Granny brings people cups of steaming punch from a punch bowl.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Can you put it where the kids had their punch bowl?

  • You were by the punch bowl.

  • The camera fell in the punch bowl.

  • There is a long buffet table and a punch bowl.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Tom followed Michael and Lisa over to the punch bowl.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The room was crowded with people, and at both ends of it stood a table with a punch bowl and cookies on it.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Zeke went over to the punch bowl to get a drink.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • Nicole and Kimberly stand by the punch bowl, chatting.

    Fiction book (1992)

Synonyms

bowl
vspunch bowl
370 1.0

A round deep dish with an open top used to hold food or liquid

is mainly for serving drinks, often with a ladle, not general holding use
jorum
vspunch bowl
  • Archaic
9.9

A large bowl for serving drinks like punch or ale

is used mainly for serving punch and is paired with a ladle
monteith
vspunch bowl
  • Archaic
9.9

A large silver bowl with a notched rim used to cool glasses or serve punch

is for serving drinks with a ladle rather than cooling glasses

How Big

tub
95 1.0
keg
57 2.0
punch bowl
12 2.6
bowl
370 1.0
cup
846 1.0

Surface Forms

punch bowl singular
punch bowls plural

Morphology

punch + bowl

The meaning 'a large bowl used to serve punch' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'punch' (the drink) with 'bowl' (a container). This straightforward noun+noun composition follows common compounding patterns in English (and equivalents exist in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand it.

Etymology

Punch bowl comes from the simple picture of a large bowl holding punch, the shared drink at parties. Because people ladled and drank from the same bowl, the name now means 'a large, deep bowl used for serving drinks'.