adjective ˈɡuːɡliˈɡuɡli
informal (of the eyes) unfocused or rolling.
her eyes were googly for a second, but when they focused she started swinging
Origin
Early 20th century: possibly related to goggle.
nounPlural googlies ˈɡuːɡliˈɡuɡli
Cricket An off break bowled with an apparent leg-break action.
you are going to bowl some amazing googlies
Example sentencesExamples
- This is by no means uncommon to spinners who bowl googlies with a high arm action as it puts considerable strain on the shoulder.
- He used to bowl two googlies, one from the top and one that he used to bowl from shoulder height.
- Reports that he can no longer bowl the googly are wide of the mark: Graham Thorpe says Warne bowled him two on Wednesday in the County Championship match at the Rose Bowl.
- I bowl chinamen and googlies which is a bit odd but it seems to come naturally.
- Indeed, he could bowl the googly at about slow-medium pace and where, in exceptional conditions, the pitch dictated it, he could be a fine slow bowler.
Origin
Early 20th century: of unknown origin.
One way to bowl a maiden over in cricket is to deliver a googly, a deceptive ball which bounces in the opposite direction from the expected one. The word is first recorded in 1903, but beyond that nothing is known about its origin. The Australian term for a googly, bosie, comes from the name of the English cricketer Bernard Bosanquet (1877–1936).