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Boil

//bɔɪ(ə)l// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.
  2. 2
    The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour; the boiling point.

    "Add the noodles when the water comes to the boil."

  3. 3
    the temperature at which a liquid boils at sea level wordnet
  4. 4
    An instance of boiling.

    "Surface water will do, but give it a good boil before drinking it."

  5. 5
    a painful sore with a hard core filled with pus wordnet
Show 4 more definitions
  1. 6
    A dish of boiled food, especially seafood.

    "a down-home boil with plenty of crab"

  2. 7
    A social event at which people gather to boil and eat food, especially seafood. (Compare a bake or clambake.) US

    "a down-home boil at the town hall"

  3. 8
    The collective noun for a group of hawks. nonstandard, rare
  4. 9
    A bubbling. archaic

    "He swam to the place where Mary disappeared but there was neither boil nor gurgle on the water, nor even a bell of departing breath, to mark the place where his beloved had sunk."

Verb
  1. 1
    To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas. transitive

    "Boil some water in a pan."

  2. 2
    immerse or be immersed in a boiling liquid, often for cooking purposes wordnet
  3. 3
    To cook in boiling water. ambitransitive

    "Boil the eggs for three minutes."

  4. 4
    bring to, or maintain at, the boiling point wordnet
  5. 5
    To begin to turn into a gas, seethe. intransitive

    "Pure water boils at 100 degrees Celsius."

Show 10 more definitions
  1. 6
    come to the boiling point and change from a liquid to vapor wordnet
  2. 7
    To bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil. UK, informal, transitive

    "'I'll boil the kettle,' he said."

  3. 8
    be in an agitated emotional state wordnet
  4. 9
    To be uncomfortably hot. informal, intransitive

    "It’s boiling outside!"

  5. 10
    be agitated wordnet
  6. 11
    To feel uncomfortably hot. informal, intransitive

    "I’m boiling in here – could you open the window?"

  7. 12
    To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation. transitive

    "to boil sugar or salt"

  8. 13
    To steep or soak in warm water. obsolete

    "To try whether seeds be old or new, the sense cannot inform; but if you boil them in water, the new seeds will sprout sooner."

  9. 14
    To be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce. intransitive

    "the boiling waves of the sea"

  10. 15
    To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid.

    "His blood boils with anger."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English bile, büle (“boil, tumor”), from Old English bȳl, bȳle (“boil, swelling”), from Proto-Germanic *būlijō, *būlō (“boil”). Akin to Dutch buil (“boil, swelling”), German Beule (“boil, hump”), Icelandic beyla (“swelling, hump”). The expected form is bile; the rounding of the diphthong could be caused by the initial b- and/or by association with etymology 2.

Etymology 2

From Middle English boillen, from Old French boillir (see French bouillir) from Latin bullīre (“to bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”). Displaced native Old English weallan (intransitive) and wiellan (transitive). More at wall, well.

Etymology 3

From Middle English boillen, from Old French boillir (see French bouillir) from Latin bullīre (“to bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”). Displaced native Old English weallan (intransitive) and wiellan (transitive). More at wall, well.

See also for "boil"

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