seethe
- to surge or foam as if boiling.
- to be in a state of agitation or excitement.
- Archaic. to boil.
- to soak or steep.
- to cook by boiling or simmering; boil.
- the act of seething.
- the state of being agitated or excited.
Origin of seethe
Synonym study
Examples from the Web for seethed
Contemporary Examples
They seethed at the way Obama had submitted to Republican demands that budget balancing take precedence over job creation.
"He barges in, uninvited, and writes fiction," Specter seethed.
Historical Examples
I seethed, beginning to feel my anger grow as my fear dwindled.
Card TrickWalter Bupp AKA Randall Garrett
Turning to the East, we find signs that Norwich seethed with discontent.
William Pitt and the Great WarJohn Holland Rose
Lily seethed with rage against her husband, that footy rotter!
The Bill-ToppersAndre Castaigne
He seethed with fury at the small, ugly-mouthed woman who had nothing to do with him.
The RainbowD. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
Ideas, possibilities which he could not yet grasp, seethed in his brain.
In the Morning of TimeCharles G. D. Roberts
seethe
- (intr) to boil or to foam as if boiling
- (intr) to be in a state of extreme agitation, esp through anger
- (tr) to soak in liquid
- (tr) archaic to cook or extract the essence of (a food) by boiling
- the act or state of seething
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for seethed
seethe
v.
Old English seoþan "to boil," also figuratively, "be troubled in mind, brood" (class II strong verb; past tense seaþ, past participle soden), from Proto-Germanic *seuthan (cf. Old Norse sjoða, Old Frisian siatha, Dutch zieden, Old High German siodan, German sieden "to seethe"), from PIE root *seut- "to seethe, boil."
Driven out of its literal meaning by boil (v.); it survives largely in metaphoric extensions. Figurative use, of persons or populations, "to be in a state of inward agitation" is recorded from 1580s (implied in seething). It had wider figurative uses in Old English, e.g. "to try by fire, to afflict with cares." Now conjugated as a weak verb, and past participle sodden (q.v.) is no longer felt as connected.