Bowling pin

Scale diagram of bowling pins and balls for several variants of the sport. The horizontal blue lines are 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart vertically.

Bowling pins (historically also known as skittles or kegels) are upright elongated solids of rotation with a flat base for setting, usually made of wood (esp. maple) standing between 9 and 16 inches (23 and 41cm) tall. Some have interior voids to adjust weight and balance. Pins are coated with plastic and painted, by convention mostly white with (usually) transaxial red stripes or other markings around the neck or middle (candlepins). Sets of pins, usually 5, 9, or 10 in a triangular arrangement, are the target of the bowling ball in various bowling games including tenpins, five-pins, duckpins and candlepins.