boiler room

American  

noun

1. a room in a building, ship, etc., that houses one or more steam boilers.

2. Slang.

   1. a place where illicit brokers engage in high-pressure selling, over the telephone, of securities of a highly speculative nature or of dubious value.

   2. any room or business where salespeople, bill collectors, solicitors for charitable donations, etc., conduct an intensive telephone campaign, especially in a fast-talking or intimidating manner.

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boiler room British  

noun

1. any room in a building (often in the basement) that contains a boiler for central heating, etc

2. the part of a steam ship that houses the boilers and furnaces

3. the room or department in which the real work of an organization goes on unseen

4. ( chiefly US ) an office used by a team of telephone salespeople, esp of stocks and shares, operating under high pressure

5. 1. a fraudulent scheme in which investors are encouraged to buy non-existent, worthless, or over-priced shares

   2. ( as modifier )

      a boiler-room scam

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Other Word Forms

• boiler-room adjective

Example Sentences

Krauze joined what was then called the Vladimir Lenin shipyard in 1983, first in a coal-fired boiler room and later operating a crane.

From Barron's • Mar. 7, 2026

The team inside the boiler room includes local workers and Naomi Pearmine, a Marine Engineer.

From BBC • Nov. 7, 2025

The pool’s mechanical room looks like the boiler room of an ocean liner — with giant tanks that purify pool water and another system that stabilizes the temperature.

From Los Angeles Times • May 23, 2025

Mick worked in a factory boiler room in the 1970s, where he was exposed to asbestos.

From Science Daily • Feb. 15, 2024

Alex was standing in a metal passageway leading to a tangle of pipes and cylinders, like the boiler room of a ship.

From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz