▪ I. † boule1 ? Obs.
[app. a variant spelling of boll, bowl, a hemispherical dish.]
A measure of lead ore: see quot.
| 1449 Excheq. Records in Risdon Surv. Devon Introd. 18, 144 Bouls of Glance Oar. 1670 Pettus Fodinæ Regales s.v. Boule, cited in Tapping Gloss. Lead-mining Terms 1851 (E.D.S.) 24 Boule or Dish, a certain measure wherewith the miners are accustomed to measure out the duties to the church and king..it formerly contained about half a peck. |
▪ II. boule2
(buːl)
An altered form of the word commonly spelt buhl. See Boulle.
▪ III. boule3
(ˈbaʊliː, ˈbuːleɪ)
[a. Gr. βουλή senate.]
A legislative council of ancient Greece, originally aristocratic and consisting of the heads of families, later consisting of representatives chosen by lot.
| 1846 Grote Hist. Greece II. i. xx. 89 The Boulê, or council of chiefs, and the Agora, or general assembly of freemen. 1905 Spectator 4 Mar. 318/2 The Boulé, which answers practically to the House of Commons. |
▪ IV. ‖ boule4
(bul)
[Fr., = bowl n.2]
1. A game resembling roulette (see quot. 1911). Also attrib.
| 1911 Encycl. Brit. XXI. 308/2 In recent years there has been a tendency to supplant the petits chevaux at French resorts by the boule or ball game..; in this a ball is rolled on a basin-shaped table so that it may eventually settle in one of a number of shallow cups, each marked with a figure. 1928 Daily Tel. 10 July 15/5 Rooms for boule and baccarat. 1937 M. Allingham Dancers in Mourning i. 3 A shower of counters on a boule table. |
2. A French form of bowls, played on rough ground, usu. with metal balls. Also in pl. form.
| 1924 W. J. Locke Coming of Amos xvii. 220, I..aided her to play a childish game of boule. 1942 W. Simpson One of our Pilots iv. 107 Groups of soldiers were playing ‘boules’, a crude form of bowls played on rough ground, which was very popular in France. 1953 F. Stark Coast of Incense ii. 96 The game of boule—bowls without the bowling-green. |
▪ V. boule
obs. form of bowl.