boil

¹ American  

[boil] / bɔɪl /

verb (used without object)

• boils,
  present (3rd person singular)
• boiled,
  past participle,  past
• boiling
  present participle

1. 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.

2. to reach or be brought to the boiling point.

   When the water boils, add the meat and cabbage.

3. to be in an agitated or violent state.

   The sea boiled in the storm.

   Synonyms:

   froth, churn, foam

4. to be deeply stirred or upset.

   I didn’t dare open my mouth, as I was boiling with rage.

   Synonyms:

   rage

5. to contain, or be contained in, a liquid that boils.

   The kettle is boiling.

   The vegetables are boiling.

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verb (used with object)

• boils,
  present (3rd person singular)
• boiled,
  past participle,  past
• boiling
  present participle

1. to cause to boil or to bring to the boiling point.

   Boil two cups of water.

2. to cook (something) in boiling water.

   Don’t boil the eggs too long if you want soft yolks.

3. 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

1. the act, state, or condition of boiling.

   He brought a kettle of water to a boil.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Also called blow.  Civil Engineering. an unwanted flow of water and solid matter into an excavation, due to excessive outside water pressure.

verb phrase

1. boil over

   1. to overflow while boiling or as if while boiling; burst forth; erupt.

      Your soup boiled over and made a mess on the stove.

   2. to be unable to suppress anger, excitement, etc..

      Any mention of the incident makes her boil over.

2. boil out

   1. to clear deposits of calcium, minerals, etc., from (a vehicle’s radiator) by immersing it in boiling water for a time.

   2. 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.

   3. boil off.

3. boil down

   1. to reduce the quantity of by boiling off liquid.

      Boil the sauce down till it just covers the cutlets.

   2. to shorten; abridge.

      I think you could boil this lengthy essay down to a couple of pages.

   3. 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.

4. boil off Also boil out

   1. 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.

   2. to degum (silk).

   3. to remove (sizing, wax, impurities, or the like) from a fabric by subjecting it to a hot scouring solution.

boil ² American  

[boil] / bɔɪl /

noun

Pathology.

1. a painful, circumscribed inflammation of the skin or a hair follicle, having a dead, suppurating inner core: usually caused by a staphylococcal infection.

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boil ¹ British  

/ bɔɪl /

verb

1. 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

2. to reach or cause to reach boiling point

3. to cook or be cooked by the process of boiling

4. (intr) to bubble and be agitated like something boiling; seethe

   the ocean was boiling

5. (intr) to be extremely angry or indignant (esp in the phrase make one's blood boil )

   she was boiling at his dishonesty

6. (intr) to contain a boiling liquid

   the pot is boiling

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noun

1. the state or action of boiling (esp in the phrases on the boil, off the boil )

boil ² British  

/ bɔɪl /

noun

1. Technical name: furuncle.  a red painful swelling with a hard pus-filled core caused by bacterial infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, esp at a hair follicle

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boil Scientific  

/ boil /

1. To change from a liquid to a gaseous state by being heated to the boiling point and being provided with sufficient energy. Boiling is an example of a phase transition.

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boil Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing boil

• make one's blood boil
• watched pot never boils

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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

• boilable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• boiling
  present
• boiled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• boil
  simple
• boils
  simple
• have boiled
  perfect
• has boiled
  perfect
• am boiling
  progressive
• are boiling
  progressive
• is boiling
  progressive
• have been boiling
  perfect progressive
• has been boiling
  perfect progressive

Past

• boiled
  simple
• had boiled
  perfect
• was boiling
  progressive
• were boiling
  progressive
• had been boiling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will boil
  simple
• will have boiled
  perfect
• will be boiling
  progressive
• will have been boiling
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

boil boils boiled boiling

"It does boil down to customer service," she believes.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Cook the pasta: Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until just shy of al dente.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Hundreds of people crammed into the school gym that April evening, and the debate over Point Reyes agitated into a low boil.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Most of Wall Street’s midcap narratives boil down to nothing more than asserting that such stocks are neither too big nor too little but “just right.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

As she waited for the coffee water to boil, Mami picked them up and took them to the tub under the avocado tree.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

People showed strange boils and rashes that volunteers photographed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 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

The frustration of some Argentina players boils over at the end of the 2026 World Cup final, after the 2022 winners are beaten by Spain in extra time.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

In the morning, his mother boils it again before he adds fresh beef and other ingredients.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026

The ones that survived suffered from fin-rot and had broken out in boils.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Frustrations boiled over on Monday during a rare election security call hosted by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency for state officials.

From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2026

USA Today published a photo earlier this year of a sailor’s mostly empty lunch tray, which included a few chunks of boiled carrot and processed meat of an indeterminate nature.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

In July, their frustrations boiled over in a packed town hall meeting at Shorter’s church.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Hiddleston, who spoke with WSJ about his morning routine, swears by regular runs, soft boiled eggs and Arsenal football.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Before it got dark, she boiled water and added it to the leftover mealie meal.

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

Parboil the rice: Cook the rice in generously salted boiling water for 8 minutes.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Together, they create the Sun's granulation, a constantly changing pattern that resembles bubbles in a boiling liquid.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

"When I returned to the area, I stepped on a boiling hot patch of sand, and had to be carried off the beach," he added.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

The fury from PlayStation die-hards, gamers more broadly, and even creators, has been absolutely boiling ever since the announcement, which earned thousands of aggrieved comments on the brand’s own website.

From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026

At that point Mama would pick the chicken up and drop it into boiling water, which would loosen the feathers so that she could pull them off.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

Related Words

• bubble
• evaporate
• poach
• simmer
• steam
• stew