English

Noun

Boule bread

boule ‎(plural boules)

1. One of the bowls used in the French game of boules.
2. A single-crystal ingot produced by synthetic means.
3. A round loaf of bread.
4. A round piece of dough
5. (woodworking) A through-sawn log with the slices restacked in the order and orientation they originally had in the log, usually with waney edges.
   • 1986, Fine woodworking on wood and how to dry it, page 42:

     Behind him is lumber 'sawn in the boule.' Wood is more commonly sawn in this manner in Europe and is stacked in the order it comes from the log.

   • 2016 August 17, American Woodworker, page 41:

     Specialty lumber dealers can cut and sticker a log "in the boule," so that boards hold the same relative position they had before milling

   • 1991 August, American Woodworker, page 47:

     A live-sawn log kept as a unit is known as a boule

   • 2005, Andy Rae, Workshop Idea Book, page 94:

     IN THE BOULE. If you work with whole logs, allocate enough space for storing flitch-cut planks in the order they were sawn. Their sheer bulk helps keep them flat, and stacking in order makes sequential matching for color and grain much easier

Translations

Verb

boule ‎(third-person singular simple present boules, present participle bouling, simple past and past participle bouled)

1. (transitive, cooking, rare, nonstandard) To shape (a piece of dough) into a ball.

Translations

Etymology 2

Alteration of Boulle. See buhl.

Noun

boule ‎(usually uncountable, plural boules)

1. (woodworking) Alternative form of buhl

Etymology 3

Noun

boule ‎(plural boules)

1. A council of citizens in Ancient Greece

Translations

Czech

Noun

boule f

1. bulge, protuberance
2. bump, swelling

French

Etymology

From Middle French boule, from Old French bole ‎(“knob”), from Old Frankish *bolla, *bollo ‎(“ball, bun, bowl, cup”), from Proto-Germanic *bullǭ ‎(“round object, ball, bowl”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰln- ‎(“round object”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- ‎(“to blow, swell, inflate”). Cognate with Dutch bol ‎(“ball, sphere, scoop”), German Bolle ‎(“bulb”). More at bowl.

Alternative etymology derives Old French bole from Latin bulla ‎(“bubble”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bul/

Noun

boule f ‎(plural boules)

1. ball, globe
2. bowl (in the game of bowls)

   Il jette la boule.

   "He throws the bowl."

3. scoop (of e.g. ice cream)

   2 boules de glace.

   "2 scoops of ice cream."

4. (informal) head or face
5. (France, slang) ball, testicle
   • 1785, Donatien Alphonse François de Sade, Les 120 journées de Sodome, ou l'École du libertinage

     Il se fait mettre dans le cul de grosses boules de mercure combinées avec le vif argent. Ces boules remontent et redescendent, et pendant le chatouillement excessif qu'elles occasionnent, il suce des vits, avale le foutre, fait chier des culs de filles, avale la merde. Il est deux heures dans cette extase.

6. (Quebec, slang) tit, breast

Derived terms

Verb

boule

1. first-person singular present indicative of bouler
2. third-person singular present indicative of bouler
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of bouler
4. first-person singular present subjunctive of bouler
5. second-person singular imperative of bouler

Norman

Pronunciation

Noun

boule f ‎(plural boules)

1. (Jersey, nautical) buoy

Derived terms

• boule d'sauvetage ‎(“life belt”)