ebullition
Americannoun
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a seething or overflowing, as of passion or feeling; outburst.
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the state of being ebullient.
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the act or process of boiling up.
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a rushing forth of water, lava, etc., in a state of agitation.
noun
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the process of boiling
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a sudden outburst, as of intense emotion
Etymology
Origin of ebullition
1525–35; < Latin ēbullītiōn- (stem of ēbullītiō ), equivalent to ēbullīt ( us ) (past participle of ēbullīre to boil up ēbullī- ( see ebullient) + -tus past participle suffix) + -iōn- -ion
Explanation
Ebullition is an outburst of emotion, like the ebullition from a group of football fans when their team wins the Super Bowl. This irrepressible noun comes from the Latin root ebullire, "to boil over." In fact, you can even use it in this literal way: "Wait for the ebullition of that pot of water before you put the pasta in!" It's more common to save it for excitement (or anger) that seems to boil over or gush out, like the ebullition of a kindergarten class encountering a roomful of puppies.
Vocabulary lists containing ebullition
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.
The labor unrest has been fueled by the confluence of the pandemic and an ebullition of streaming platforms thirsting for hot new shows and films.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 10, 2021
At the many ritzy parties I was invited to I may not have drunk any champagne, but I was just as intoxicated by the mounting ebullition of bubbly London.
From The Guardian • Apr. 3, 2010
His stories, on the other hand, were a wild ebullition of image and idea, and his essays an icefall of glittering intellectual fragments.
From Time Magazine Archive
It has been said that a continuous course toward the left, a kind of fatal ebullition toward the abyss are the characteristics of all revolutions.
From Time Magazine Archive
Good fortune opens the hand as well as the heart wonderfully; and to give somewhat when we have largely received, is but to afford a vent to the unusual ebullition of the sensations.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
