roil

[roil]

See more synonyms for roil on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)

to render (water, wine, etc.) turbid by stirring up sediment.
to disturb or disquiet; irritate; vex: to be roiled by a delay.

verb (used without object)

to move or proceed turbulently.

Origin of roil

First recorded in 1580–90; origin uncertain

Related formsun·roiled, adjective

Can be confusedroil royal

Synonyms for roil

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2. annoy, fret, ruffle, exasperate, provoke, rile.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for roiling

rile, stir, muddy, disturb, anger, annoy, foul, agitate, vex, displease, bother, disquiet

Examples from the Web for roiling

Contemporary Examples of roiling

In conversation, her ideas emerge at a roiling boil that often takes on a momentum of its own.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination
Mindy Farabee
December 26, 2014
An aerial image shows what appears to be a spa, roiling water apparently carrying no nasty connotations.
The Luxury Homes That Torture and Your Tax Dollars Built
Michael Daly
December 12, 2014
This official declined to discuss the details of the current espionage case that is roiling the German government today.
One Big Reason The CIA Spied on Germany: Worries About Russian Moles in Berlin
Eli Lake
July 12, 2014
It is a seething, boiling, roiling, apoplectic revulsion at the very idea of unions.
Can a Senator Stop a Union? Bob Corker Is Certainly Trying
Michael Tomasky
February 14, 2014
Unions now are left in the middle of the roiling family feud that all agree has no easy answers.
Obama’s Labor Pains: Unions Rage Against the Affordable Care Act
Patricia Murphy
September 20, 2013

Historical Examples of roiling

He was looking up at her, as if struck dumb, roiling his eye wildly.
Romance
Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer
What cared they that the ship was roiling and tumbling about?
True Blue
W.H.G. Kingston
He plunged about frantically and churned up the water, roiling the stream.
Shaggycoat
Clarence Hawkes
Whitecaps and a roiling sea told him there was plenty of wind in the squall.
The Flying Stingaree
Harold Leland Goodwin
Roiling waters met the prows from end to end of the straits.
Vikings of the Pacific
Agnes C. Laut

British Dictionary definitions for roiling

roil

verb

(tr) to make (a liquid) cloudy or turbid by stirring up dregs or sediment
(intr) (esp of a liquid) to be agitated or disturbed
(intr) dialect to be noisy or boisterous
(tr) another word (now rare) for rile (def. 1)

Word Origin for roil

C16: of unknown origin; compare rile

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for roiling

roil

1580s, of uncertain origin, probably from Middle French rouiller "to rust, make muddy," from Old French roil "mud, muck, rust" (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *robicula, from Latin robigo "rust" (see robust). An earlier borrowing of the French verb is Middle English roil "to roam or rove about" (early 14c.). Related: Roiled; roiling.