What does bowelling mean?
Bowelling is the present participle of the verb "to bowel," meaning to cut open a body — human or animal — and remove its intestines or entrails. It is essentially a variant of the far more common verb "disembowel," and by extension it can describe hollowing anything out from within, whether a carcass prepared after a hunt or, metaphorically, a landscape or structure gutted of its contents. The spelling with two L's is chiefly British, while American English tends to write "boweling." Because the word is graphic and anatomical, writers reach for it mainly in historical accounts, descriptions of traditional butchery, medical writing, and vivid literary prose; in everyday speech, blunter alternatives such as "gutting" are preferred. Its single-L cousin "bowling" belongs to an entirely different world of pins and cricket pitches, making this one of English's more striking near-homographs.
To remove the intestines or entrails of (a person or animal); disembowel.
"After the kill, the hunters began bowelling the deer before transport."
Often used in progressive constructions; more commonly encountered as part of "disembowel."
(Figurative) To hollow out or empty the interior of something entirely.
"The demolition crew spent weeks bowelling the old factory before bringing down its walls."
One extra letter turns a friendly night at the lanes into something out of an anatomy lecture — bowelling, unlike bowling, involves intestines.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bowelling
The word derives from "bowel," which entered Middle English from Old French "boel," itself descended from Latin "botellus," a diminutive meaning "small sausage." The verb "to bowel" arose in English to denote the removal of these organs, with the participial form "bowelling" following standard British consonant-doubling conventions. It shares this Latin root with the noun "bowels" and with the compound "disembowel."
Related word forms
How bowelling is actually used
Chiefly British spelling; American English typically writes "boweling." The word is formal to technical in register and appears most often in historical, medical, hunting, or literary contexts; in modern prose, "disembowelling" is far more common for the literal sense. The figurative sense is rare and usually poetic or metaphorical.
Easily confused with bowelling
"Bowelling" means removing the intestines, whereas "bowling" refers to the sport of rolling a ball at pins or delivering a ball in cricket.