The expression is "bawling my eyes out," not "bowling my eyes out." To bawl means to cry loudly, so "bawling your eyes out" means crying very hard. "Bowling" turns up because the two words sound almost the same in many American accents.
What it means
"I was bawling my eyes out" is an informal, slightly exaggerated way of saying you cried a lot, usually from sadness, but sometimes from laughter or relief:
- "The ending of that movie had me bawling my eyes out."
- "She bawled her eyes out at her sister's wedding."
Similar phrases include "crying my eyes out" and "sobbing my heart out."
Why people write "bowling"
In many US accents, the vowels in bawl and bowl are close, and in speech-to-text and autocorrect, "bowling" is the more common word, so it often wins. Song lyrics, captions and social posts spread the misspelling further.
A quick memory trick: bawl has "aw" like a cry of "awww"; bowl is the one with the ball.
When "bowling" is correct
If you actually spent the night at the lanes, then "bowling" is right. And if your eyes are tired from staring at the arrows, you might like our guide to where to look when you bowl, which covers targeting at the arrows instead of the pins.
Other bowling mix-ups
- Bowline (the knot) is often misheard as "bowling knot." See how to tie a bowline.
- Bowls (lawn bowls) isn't the same as ten-pin bowling. See what "bowling" means.