Wood Meaning in Bowling

Wood is a traditional term used to refer to the bowling pins themselves or the number of pins knocked down. This comes from the era when all bowling pins and lanes were made exclusively from hard maple wood. Even though many modern pins are coated in synthetic materials the name has stuck within the bowling community. In competitive scoring people might say they need more wood to catch up to their opponent’s total. For example the team needed to knock down more wood in the final frame to win the tournament. Wood is a classic slang term for the pins or the total pinfall in a game. The team needed to knock down more wood in the final frame to win the tournament.