Meaning & use
a bowl cut
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A hairstyle in which hair is cut straight around the head, like the edge of a bowl.
Grammar: Countable; use 'a' or a plural: 'He had a bowl cut.' / 'Bowl cuts were popular in the 1980s.'
Patterns
- have a bowl cut
- get a bowl cut
- give someone a bowl cut
When he was six, his mother gave him a bowl cut with kitchen scissors.
The actor wore a black bowl cut for the role.
I had a bowl cut in middle school and hated every photo.
nouncountabletechnical
A style of cutting vegetables or other food into curved pieces shaped like a bowl.
Grammar: Countable but rare outside cooking instructions; usually replaced by 'bowl-cut' as an adjective.
Patterns
- a bowl cut of vegetables
- make a bowl cut
The recipe calls for a bowl cut of the zucchini.
Use a bowl cut for the carrots so they cook evenly.
Word forms
| plural | bowl cuts |
|---|
Common combinations
- have a bowl cut
- Both brothers have bowl cuts that make them look identical.
- a classic bowl cut
- She asked the stylist for a classic bowl cut with bangs.
- grow out a bowl cut
- It took him a year to grow out his bowl cut.
- a bad bowl cut
- The photo shows me with a bad bowl cut and braces.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mushroom cut
- Similar shape but often shorter at the sides; more common in Asian English.
- pageboy
- A smoother, longer style that turns under at the ends, not cut straight like a bowl.
Word family
- bowl-cut adjective
- Describing hair cut in that style, as in 'a bowl-cut fringe'.
Commonly confused: a bowl cut or bob?
a bowl cut vs bob
A bob is a short haircut for women, usually cut level around the jaw or chin, but it is not shaped like a bowl.
Practice
My little cousin looks adorable with ___ bowl cut.
Choose one answer.
'Bowl cut' is a countable noun, so it needs 'a' when mentioned for the first time. 'The' would suggest a specific, already-known cut, 'an' is wrong before a consonant sound, and no article is not possible here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a bowl cut”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.