Pinfalls

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act of knocking down all the pins in a single attempt in a sport that involves rolling a ball down a lane; a scoring event resulting from such an action; the total count of pins toppled during play
2. Successfully knocking down every target in one try in a bowling game; a scoring accomplishment achieved by clearing all pins; the aggregate of pins felled in an effort
3. The event of clearing all pins with one roll in bowling; the point scored for this successful clearance; the number of pins knocked down at once in a turn

Etymology: "Pinfalls" is the plural of "pinfall," a noun formed from two plain English words: "pin," the wooden skittle that stands at the end of a bowling lane, and "fall," the act of coming down. The compound describes exactly what happens when a bowler's delivery sends those pins toppling. Because the word is a transparent pairing of existing terms, its history is largely the history of the two parts, with the compound simply naming the moment the pins go down.

Synonyms: knockdowns, strikes, falls, topples, collapses

Antonyms: misses, spares, saves, blocks, deflections