boil definition | Dictionary.com

boil

1 [boil]

–verb (used without object)

1.	to change from a liquid to a gaseous state, producing bubbles of gas that rise to the surface of the liquid, agitating it as they rise.

2.	to reach or be brought to the boiling point: When the water boils, add the meat and cabbage.

3.	to be in an agitated or violent state: The sea boiled in the storm.

4.	to be deeply stirred or upset.

5.	to contain, or be contained in, a liquid that boils: The kettle is boiling. The vegetables are boiling.

–verb (used with object)

6.	to cause to boil or to bring to the boiling point: Boil two cups of water.

7.	to cook (something) in boiling water: to boil eggs.

8.	to separate (sugar, salt, etc.) from a solution containing it by boiling off the liquid.

–noun

9.	the act or an instance of boiling.

10.	the state or condition of boiling: He brought a kettle of water to a boil.

11.	an area of agitated, swirling, bubbling water, as part of a rapids.

12.	Also called blow. Civil Engineering. an unwanted flow of water and solid matter into an excavation, due to excessive outside water pressure.

—Verb phrases

13.

boil down,

a.	to reduce the quantity of by boiling off liquid.

b.	to shorten; abridge.

c.	to be simplifiable or summarizable as; lead to the conclusion that; point: It all boils down to a clear case of murder.

14.

boil over,

a.	to overflow while boiling or as if while boiling; burst forth; erupt.

b.	to be unable to repress anger, excitement, etc.: Any mention of the incident makes her boil over.

—Idiom

15.

boil off, Textiles.

a.	to degum (silk).

b.	to remove (sizing, wax, impurities, or the like) from a fabric by subjecting it to a hot scouring solution.

Also, boil out.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME boillen < AF, OF boillir < L bullīre to bubble, effervesce, boil, v. deriv. of bulla bubble

Synonyms:
3. foam, churn, froth. 4. rage. Boil, seethe, simmer, stew are used figuratively to refer to agitated states of emotion. To boil suggests the state of being very hot with anger or rage: Rage made his blood boil. To seethe is to be deeply stirred, violently agitated, or greatly excited: A mind seething with conflicting ideas. To simmer means to be on the point of bursting out or boiling over: to simmer with curiosity, with anger. To stew is to worry, to be in a restless state of anxiety and excitement: to stew about (or over) one's troubles.

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boil

2 [boil]

–noun Pathology.

a painful, circumscribed inflammation of the skin or a hair follicle, having a dead, suppurating inner core: usually caused by a staphylococcal infection.

Also called furuncle.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME bile, bule, OE bȳle; c. G Beule boil, hump, akin to ON beyla hump, swelling

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To boil

boil¹ (boil)

v. boiled, boil·ing, boils

v. intr.

1. To change from a liquid to a vapor by the application of heat: All the water boiled away and left the kettle dry.
2. To reach the boiling point.
3. To undergo the action of boiling, especially in being cooked.
To be in a state of agitation; seethe: a river boiling over the rocks.
To be stirred up or greatly excited: The mere idea made me boil.

v. tr.

1. To vaporize (a liquid) by the application of heat.
2. To heat to the boiling point.
To cook or clean by boiling.
To separate by evaporation in the process of boiling: boil the maple sap.

The condition or act of boiling.
Lower Southern U.S. A picnic featuring shrimp, crab, or crayfish boiled in large pots with spices, and then shelled and eaten by hand.
An agitated, swirling, roiling mass of liquid: "Those tumbling boils show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there" (Mark Twain).

Phrasal Verb(s):
boil down

To reduce in bulk or size by boiling.
To condense; summarize: boiled down the complex document.
To constitute the equivalent of in summary: The scathing editorial simply boils down to an exercise in partisan politics.

boil over

To overflow while boiling.
To lose one's temper.

[Middle English boillen, from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre, from bulla, bubble.]
boil'a·ble adj.

Synonyms: These verbs mean, both literally and figuratively, to stir up or agitate. To boil is to heat a liquid to a temperature at which it bubbles up and gives off vapor: The water boiled in the kettle.
Figuratively boil pertains to intense agitation: She boiled with resentment.
Simmer denotes gentle cooking just at or below the boiling point: Let the stock simmer for a couple of hours.
Figuratively it refers to a state of gentle ferment: Plans were simmering in his mind.
Seethe emphasizes in both senses the turbulence of steady boiling: Water seethed in the cauldron. "The city had ... been seething with discontent" (John R. Green).
Stew refers literally to slow boiling and figuratively to a persistent but not violent state of agitation: As the prunes stewed, I stirred them gently. "They don't want a man to fret and stew about his work" (William H. Whyte, Jr.)

boil² (boil)

n. A painful, circumscribed pus-filled inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue usually caused by a local staphylococcal infection. Also called furuncle.

[Middle English bile, from Old English bȳle.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Boil

Boil\ (boil), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Boiled (boild); p. pr. & vb. n. Boiling.] [OE. boilen, OF. boilir, builir, F. bouillir, fr. L. bullire to be in a bubbling motion, from bulla bubble; akin to Gr. ?, Lith. bumbuls. Cf. Bull an edict, Budge, v., and Ebullition.]

1. To be agitated, or tumultuously moved, as a liquid by the generation and rising of bubbles of steam (or vapor), or of currents produced by heating it to the boiling point; to be in a state of ebullition; as, the water boils.

2. To be agitated like boiling water, by any other cause than heat; to bubble; to effervesce; as, the boiling waves.

He maketh the deep to boil like a pot. --Job xii. 31.

3. To pass from a liquid to an a["e]riform state or vapor when heated; as, the water boils away.

4. To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid; as, his blood boils with anger.

Then boiled my breast with flame and burning wrath. --Surrey.

5. To be in boiling water, as in cooking; as, the potatoes are boiling.

To boil away, to vaporize; to evaporate or be evaporated by the action of heat.

To boil over, to run over the top of a vessel, as liquid when thrown into violent agitation by heat or other cause of effervescence; to be excited with ardor or passion so as to lose self-control.

Boil

Boil\, v. t. 1. To heat to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition; as, to boil water.

2. To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation; as, to boil sugar or salt.

3. To subject to the action of heat in a boiling liquid so as to produce some specific effect, as cooking, cleansing, etc.; as, to boil meat; to boil clothes.

The stomach cook is for the hall, And boileth meate for them all. --Gower.

4. To steep or soak in warm water. [Obs.]

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

To boil down, to reduce in bulk by boiling; as, to boil down sap or sirup.

Boil

Boil\, n. Act or state of boiling. [Colloq.]

Boil

Boil\, n. [Influenced by boil, v. See Beal, Bile.] A hard, painful, inflamed tumor, which, on suppuration, discharges pus, mixed with blood, and discloses a small fibrous mass of dead tissue, called the core.

A blind boil, one that suppurates imperfectly, or fails to come to a head.

Delhi boil (Med.), a peculiar affection of the skin, probably parasitic in origin, prevailing in India (as among the British troops) and especially at Delhi.

Language Translation for : boil

Spanish: hervir,

German: kochen,

Japanese: 沸かす

More Translations »

boil (v.)

c.1225, from O.Fr. boillir, from L. bullire "to bubble, seethe," from bulla "a bubble, knob." The native word is seethe. Fig. sense of "to agitate the feelings" is from 1648.

"I am impatient, and my blood boyls high." [Otway, "Alcibiades," 1675]

Boiler in the steam engine sense is from 1757; boilermaker "shot of whiskey with a glass of beer" is short for boilermaker's delight (1910), strong cheap whiskey, so called in jest from the notion that it would clean the scales from the interior of a boiler.

boil (n.)

"hard tumor," altered from M.E. bile (Kentish bele), perhaps by assoc. with the verb; from O.E. byl, byle, from W.Gmc. *bulja "swelling" (cf. Goth. ufbauljan "to puff up," Icel. beyla "hump"), from PIE base *bhel- "to swell" (see bole).

Main Entry: boil
Pronunciation: 'boi(&)l
Function: noun
: a localized swelling and inflammation of the skin resulting from bacterial infection in a skingland, having a hard central core, and forming pus called also furuncle

boil (boil)
n.
A painful, circumscribed pus-filled inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue usually caused by a local staphylococcal infection. Also called furuncle.

boil (boil) Pronunciation Key
To change from a liquid to a gaseous state by being heated to the boiling point and being provided with sufficient energy. Boiling is an example of a phase transition.

Boil

(rendered "botch" in Deut. 28:27, 35), an aggravated ulcer, as in the case of Hezekiah (2 Kings 20:7; Isa. 38:21) or of the Egyptians (Ex. 9:9, 10, 11; Deut. 28:27, 35). It designates the disease of Job (2:7), which was probably the black leprosy.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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boil

In addition to the idioms beginning with boil, also see make one's blood boil; watched pot never boils.

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