roil

American  

[roil] / rɔɪl /

verb (used with object)

1. to render (water, wine, etc.) turbid by stirring up sediment.

2. to disturb or disquiet; irritate; vex.

   to be roiled by a delay.

   Synonyms:

   rile, provoke, exasperate, ruffle, fret, annoy

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verb (used without object)

1. to move or proceed turbulently.

roil British  

/ rɔɪl /

verb

1. (tr) to make (a liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up dregs or sediment

2. (intr) (esp of a liquid) to be agitated or disturbed

3. dialect (intr) to be noisy or boisterous

4. (tr) another word (now rare) for rile

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Other Word Forms

• unroiled adjective

Etymology

Origin of roil

First recorded in 1580–90; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

High energy proton collisions can be pictured as a roiling sea of quarks and gluons, including short lived virtual particles.

From Science Daily

The analysis shows an outsize effect on noncitizen women, whose reported employment plummeted about 8.6%, or 1 in 12 out of work after raids began to roil Los Angeles in early June.

From Los Angeles Times

The ruling has roiled the wealthy districts of the greater Vancouver area, one of the most expensive real-estate markets in the world.

From The Wall Street Journal

As the year went on, Mark Zuckerberg began a recruiting blitz that roiled the industry, offering elite researchers unfathomably large sums of money to join his AI dream team inside Meta.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the Antelope Valley, the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Community Advisory Committee has been roiled by allegations that a local Sheriff’s Department captain appointed a new member without other members’ approval.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• muddy
• rile
• stir