Synonyms

simmer

American

[sim-er] / ˈsɪm ər /

verb (used without object)

to cook or cook in a liquid at or just below the boiling point.
to make a gentle murmuring sound, as liquids cooking just below the boiling point.
to be in a state of subdued or restrained activity, development, excitement, anger, etc..

The town simmered with rumors.

verb (used with object)

to keep (liquid) in a state approaching boiling.
to cook in a liquid that is kept at or just below the boiling point.

noun

the state or process of simmering.

verb phrase

simmer down
1. to reduce in volume by simmering.
2. Slang. to become calm or quiet, as from a state of anger or turmoil.
  
  We waited for the audience to simmer down.

simmer British

/ ˈsɪmə /

verb

to cook (food) gently at or just below the boiling point
(intr) to be about to break out in rage or excitement

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

the act, sound, or state of simmering

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See boil ¹.

Other Word Forms

resimmer verb
simmeringly adverb
unsimmered adjective
unsimmering adjective

Etymology

Origin of simmer

First recorded in 1645–55; alteration of earlier simper < ?

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Alexander Isak's absence due to a leg break removed some of the simmering bad blood between the clubs over the Swede's British transfer record move to Anfield in September.

From Barron's

The Cold War simmered, Emmett Till had been murdered less than a year earlier and in Montgomery, Ala., a young minister named Martin Luther King Jr. was challenging Jim Crow.

From The Wall Street Journal

One special featured a comforting rice porridge, simmered until thick and creamy, studded with Costco rotisserie chicken—an unparalleled convenience food.

From Salon

Firms have been granted permission by the regulator to increase bills to pay for upgrades after decades of underinvestment, as public anger has simmered about sewage released into the UK's rivers and seas.

From BBC

The tensions simmered for years before erupting in public.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023