Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Boll \Boll\, n. [OE. bolle boll, bowl, AS. bolla. See {Bowl} a
   vessel.]
   1. The pod or capsule of a plant, as of flax or cotton; a
      pericarp of a globular form.

   2. A Scotch measure, formerly in use: for wheat and beans it
      contained four Winchester bushels; for oats, barley, and
      potatoes, six bushels. A boll of meal is 140 lbs.
      avoirdupois. Also, a measure for salt of two bushels.
      [Sometimes spelled {bole}.]

Boll \Boll\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Bolled}.]
   To form a boll or seed vessel; to go to seed.

         The barley was in the ear, and the flax was bolled.
                                                  --Ex. ix. 31.

Source : WordNet®

boll
     n 1: the rounded seed-bearing capsule of a cotton or flax plant
     2: German novelist and writer of short stories (1917-1985)
        [syn: {Heinrich Boll}, {Heinrich Theodor Boll}]