boil
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.
- to reach or be brought to the boiling point: When the water boils, add the meat and cabbage.
- to be in an agitated or violent state: The sea boiled in the storm.
- to be deeply stirred or upset.
- to contain, or be contained in, a liquid that boils: The kettle is boiling. The vegetables are boiling.
- to cause to boil or to bring to the boiling point: Boil two cups of water.
- to cook (something) in boiling water: to boil eggs.
- to separate (sugar, salt, etc.) from a solution containing it by boiling off the liquid.
- the act or an instance of boiling.
- the state or condition of boiling: He brought a kettle of water to a boil.
- an area of agitated, swirling, bubbling water, as part of a rapids.
- Also called blow. Civil Engineering. an unwanted flow of water and solid matter into an excavation, due to excessive outside water pressure.
- boil down,
- to reduce the quantity of by boiling off liquid.
- to shorten; abridge.
- to be simplifiable or summarizable as; lead to the conclusion that; point: It all boils down to a clear case of murder.
- boil over,
- to overflow while boiling or as if while boiling; burst forth; erupt.
- to be unable to repress anger, excitement, etc.: Any mention of the incident makes her boil over.
- boil off, Textiles.
- to degum (silk).
- to remove (sizing, wax, impurities, or the like) from a fabric by subjecting it to a hot scouring solution.
Origin of boil
1Synonyms for boil
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
boil
2- a painful, circumscribed inflammation of the skin or a hair follicle, having a dead, suppurating inner core: usually caused by a staphylococcal infection.
Origin of boil
2Related Words for boil
poach, evaporate, stew, bubble, steam, simmer, flare, burn, blister, abscess, carbuncle, tumor, sore, excrescence, ulcer, pimple, furuncle, blain, pustule, effervesceExamples from the Web for boil
Contemporary Examples of boil
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season liberally with salt.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the string beans.
Businesses are suffering more each day in an area where the rents are extortionate, and the situation could boil over soon.
But there is a middle way from clean-cut hunkdom to looking like a militia leader who might boil a hitchhiker alive.
Get out before the show went off the boil, as some feel it has?
Dan Stevens Blows Up ‘Downton’: From Chubby-Cheeked Aristo to Lean, Mean American PsychoTim Teeman
September 19, 2014
Historical Examples of boil
An' I hopes, ol girl,' says he, 'that you'll be able t' boil the water 'ithout burnin' it.'
Quaint CourtshipsVarious
The captain had ordered Cooper to boil some pitch at the galley.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
Boil them fast about twenty minutes, according to their size.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
Then increase the fire, and boil it hard for a few minutes only.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
It will be a great improvement to cut up a yam and boil it in the soup.
Directions for Cookery, in its Various BranchesEliza Leslie
boil
1- to change or cause to change from a liquid to a vapour so rapidly that bubbles of vapour are formed copiously in the liquidCompare evaporate
- to reach or cause to reach boiling point
- to cook or be cooked by the process of boiling
- (intr) to bubble and be agitated like something boiling; seethethe ocean was boiling
- (intr) to be extremely angry or indignant (esp in the phrase make one's blood boil)she was boiling at his dishonesty
- (intr) to contain a boiling liquidthe pot is boiling
- the state or action of boiling (esp in the phrases on the boil, off the boil)
Word Origin for boil
boil
2- a red painful swelling with a hard pus-filled core caused by bacterial infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, esp at a hair follicleTechnical name: furuncle
Word Origin for boil
Word Origin and History for boil
early 13c., from Old French bolir "boil, bubble up, ferment, gush" (12c., Modern French bouillir), from Latin bullire "to bubble, seethe," from PIE base *beu- "to swell" (see bull (n.2)). The native word is seethe. Figurative sense of "to agitate the feelings" is from 1640s.
I am impatient, and my blood boyls high. [Thomas Otway, "Alcibiades," 1675]
Related: Boiled; boiling. Boiling point is recorded from 1773.
"hard tumor," altered from Middle English bile (Kentish bele), perhaps by association with the verb; from Old English byl, byle "boil, carbuncle," from West Germanic *buljon- "swelling" (cf. Old Frisian bele, Old High German bulia, German Beule). Perhaps ultimately from PIE root *bhel- (2) "to swell" (see bole), or from *beu- "to grow, swell" (see bull (n.2); also cf. boast). Cf. Old Irish bolach "pustule," Gothic ufbauljan "to puff up," Icelandic beyla "hump."
boil
(boil)- A painful, circumscribed pus-filled inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue usually caused by a local staphylococcal infection.furuncle
boil
- 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.
Idioms and Phrases with boil
boil
In addition to the idioms beginning with boil
- boil down
- boiling point
- boil over
also see:
- make one's blood boil
- watched pot never boils