bowl over

Verb

bowl over (third-person singular simple present bowls over, present participle bowling over, simple past and past participle bowled over)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To overwhelm; to cause to fall to the ground.
   • This tribe lived largely upon the smaller animals which they bowled over with their stone hatchets after making a wide circle about their quarry and driving it so that it had to pass close to one of their number.1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter VIII, in Hugo Gernsback, editor...
   • The Celtic midfielder appeared to be bowled over by Milorad Pekovic but Italian referee Luca Banti waved play on.2011 September 2, “Wales 2-1 Montenegro”, in BBC
2. (idiomatic, transitive) To overwhelm with astonishment or wonder; to flabbergast.
3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bowl, over.