Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - bowl over

1. To bowl someone over means to push into them and make them fall to the ground. The only physical risk I ran was being bowled over by one of the many joggers... Some people had to cling to trees as the flash flood bowled them over. = knock over PHRASAL VERB: be V-ed P, V n P (not pron), also V P n 2. If you are bowled over by something, you are very impressed or surprised by it. Like any tourist, I was bowled over by India. ...a man who bowled her over with his humour and charm. PHRASAL VERB: be V-ed P, V n P, also V P n (not pron)