boil
1 Americanverb (used without object)
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boils,
present (3rd person singular)
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boiled,
past participle, past
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boiling
present participle
-
to change from a liquid to a gaseous state, producing bubbles of gas that rise to the surface of the liquid, agitating it as they rise.
Water boils at 100°C.
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to reach or be brought to the boiling point.
When the water boils, add the meat and cabbage.
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to be in an agitated or violent state.
The sea boiled in the storm.
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to be deeply stirred or upset.
I didn’t dare open my mouth, as I was boiling with rage.
- Synonyms:
- rage
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to contain, or be contained in, a liquid that boils.
The kettle is boiling.
The vegetables are boiling.
verb (used with object)
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boils,
present (3rd person singular)
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boiled,
past participle, past
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boiling
present participle
-
to cause to boil or to bring to the boiling point.
Boil two cups of water.
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to cook (something) in boiling water.
Don’t boil the eggs too long if you want soft yolks.
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to separate (sugar, salt, etc.) from a solution containing it by boiling off the liquid.
A basic candy can be made by simply boiling sugar in a pan.
noun
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the act, state, or condition of boiling.
He brought a kettle of water to a boil.
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a social event at which food is cooked in boiling water.
We celebrated harvest and the end of summer with a corn boil in the backyard.
A jam-packed frosh week kicks off with a crawfish boil and outdoor concert.
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an area of agitated, swirling, bubbling water, such as part of a rapids.
My flashlight beam shone on the boil of the river as it beat against the bridge’s foundations.
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Also called blow. Civil Engineering. an unwanted flow of water and solid matter into an excavation, due to excessive outside water pressure.
verb phrase
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boil over
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to overflow while boiling or as if while boiling; burst forth; erupt.
Your soup boiled over and made a mess on the stove.
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to be unable to suppress anger, excitement, etc..
Any mention of the incident makes her boil over.
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boil out
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to clear deposits of calcium, minerals, etc., from (a vehicle’s radiator) by immersing it in boiling water for a time.
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to eliminate by or as if by boiling.
Unlike the germs in your drinking water, lead can't be boiled out.
The events in the stories have had most of their specialness boiled out by decades of repetition.
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boil down
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to reduce the quantity of by boiling off liquid.
Boil the sauce down till it just covers the cutlets.
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to shorten; abridge.
I think you could boil this lengthy essay down to a couple of pages.
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to be simplifiable or summarizable as; lead to the conclusion that; point.
It all boils down to a basic lack of respect for their employees.
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boil off Also boil out
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to remove or be removed by evaporation, as through boiling.
The alcohol in this rum cake boils off in baking.
Maple syrup is made by boiling off the excess water from the sap.
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to degum (silk).
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to remove (sizing, wax, impurities, or the like) from a fabric by subjecting it to a hot scouring solution.
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noun
verb
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to change or cause to change from a liquid to a vapour so rapidly that bubbles of vapour are formed copiously in the liquid Compare evaporate
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to reach or cause to reach boiling point
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to cook or be cooked by the process of boiling
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(intr) to bubble and be agitated like something boiling; seethe
the ocean was boiling
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(intr) to be extremely angry or indignant (esp in the phrase make one's blood boil )
she was boiling at his dishonesty
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(intr) to contain a boiling liquid
the pot is boiling
noun
noun
Synonym Usage
Boil, seethe, simmer, stew are used figuratively to refer to agitated states of emotion. To boil suggests the state of being very hot with anger or rage: Rage made his blood boil. To seethe is to be deeply stirred, violently agitated, or greatly excited: A mind seething with conflicting ideas. To simmer means to be on the point of bursting out or boiling over: to simmer with curiosity, with anger. To stew is to worry, to be in a restless state of anxiety and excitement: to stew about ( or over ) one's troubles.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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boilsimple
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boilssimple
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have boiledperfect
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has boiledperfect
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am boilingprogressive
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are boilingprogressive
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is boilingprogressive
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have been boilingperfect progressive
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has been boilingperfect progressive
Past
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boiledsimple
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had boiledperfect
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was boilingprogressive
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were boilingprogressive
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had been boilingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of boil1
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English boillen, boil(e), buile(n), from Old French boillir, buil(l)ir, from Latin bullīre “to bubble, effervesce, boil,” verb derivative of noun bulla “bubble”
Origin of boil2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bil(e), bul(e), bel(e), Old English bȳle; cognate with German Beule “boil, hump,” akin to Old Norse beyla “hump, swelling”
Explanation
If you heat water to 212° Fahrenheit, then expect to see it boil — bubbling as it turns from a liquid to a vapor. It's what a watched pot never seems to do! If the water is bubbling and roiling, then it's probably boiling. Cooks boil stuff all the time on the stove; geysers and hot springs boil naturally. And if you spill boiled red cabbage on the new white couch, mom's temper might just boil over. So you see boil can be used both literally and figuratively — to depict boiling hot liquids or boiling hot tempers.
Vocabulary lists containing boil
"Macbeth" Vocabulary from Act IV
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Term-ometer: Synonyms for "Hot"
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Chemistry - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
In all the national postseason hype, the Dodgers projections will boil down to one sentence: Can anyone stop those starters?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 26, 2026
It will boil down to Sunday's singles, where all 12 players face off for the crucial points that will decide the winner.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
One began to boil a kettle and emptied the contents into a bucket, along with a cap of bleach.
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
That was part of Federer’s tennis mystique: the elegant, imperturbable calm, the way he almost never let the pressure boil and send him over the edge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
Over this she hung a little kettle full of water and just as it began to boil her husband came in with a fine cabbage he had got from the garden.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
The opinion of privacy advocates who have weighed in on this requirement generally boils down to: Anyone doing this should have their head examined.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
That boils down to mature businesses that don’t require major capital investment, with the software industry among those listed by the analysts.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Vietnamese authorities have historically proven effective at detecting and stifling dissent before it boils over into action.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
Epicurious’ recipe for a delicious summertime lettuce soup seasons, boils and purées a whole head of lettuce, including both the leaves and ribs, coarsely chopped.
From Salon ● Jul. 25, 2026
“It’s always doing that. Molasses makes noise. It boils up sometimes.”
From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" by Lauren Tarshis
Ube was a staple of Philippine gardens as long as 5,000 years ago, boiled and eaten by families as a substitute to rice when their provisions ran out.
From Barron's ● Oct. 6, 2026
As for that $18.49 squash sauce, I browned some Italian sausage, boiled pasta, warmed the sauce and put a Caesar salad and good focaccia on the table.
From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026
Michael Govan, Lucas Museum board member and chief executive of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, said Lucas choosing L.A. boiled down to “audience and the location.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2026
For Donna Noser, 66, it boiled down to practicality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
Now the vague unease Jinjoo had been feeling roiled in the pit of her stomach, as if she’d eaten too many boiled eggs.
From "Finding Junie Kim" by Ellen Oh
“The whole system was, in a sense, just boiling — primed and ready to release all of that stored up energy come January 7th,” he said at a Thursday press briefing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
One of these organisms is the deep-sea archaeon Methanocaldococcus infernus, which lives in volcanic marine environments where vent fluids can reach temperatures above the boiling point of water.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 19, 2026
Then, Grossman was paired with Zoe Wohlfeld and instructed to imitate boiling milk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Parboil the rice: Cook the rice in generously salted boiling water for 8 minutes.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
I sacrifice another chicken and use the rest of the potatoes to make a stew they can take upstairs, and while it’s boiling, I try to comb the fleas from Max’s hair.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
