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simmer - 5 dictionary results

sim⋅mer

  [sim-er]
Use simmer in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to cook or cook in a liquid at or just below the boiling point.
2. to make a gentle murmuring sound, as liquids cooking just below the boiling point.
3. to be in a state of subdued or restrained activity, development, excitement, anger, etc.: The town simmered with rumors.
–verb (used with object)
4. to keep (liquid) in a state approaching boiling.
5. to cook in a liquid that is kept at or just below the boiling point.
–noun
6. the state or process of simmering.
—Verb phrase
7. simmer down,
a. to reduce in volume by simmering.
b. Slang. to become calm or quiet, as from a state of anger or turmoil: We waited for the audience to simmer down.
Origin:
1645–55; alter. of earlier simper < ?

Related forms:
sim⋅mer⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
3. See boil 1 .
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To simmer
sim·mer   (sĭm'ər)   
v.   sim·mered, sim·mer·ing, sim·mers

v.   intr.
  1. To be cooked gently or remain just at or below the boiling point.
    1. To be filled with pent-up emotion; seethe.
    2. To be in a state of gentle ferment: thoughts simmering in the back of her mind.
v.   tr.
  1. To cook (food) gently in a liquid just at or below the boiling point.
  2. To keep (a liquid) near or just below the boiling point. See Synonyms at boil1.
n.  The state or process of simmering.
Phrasal Verb(s):
simmer downTo become calm after excitement or anger.

[Alteration of Middle English simpire, to simmer, probably of imitative origin.]
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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Simmer

Sim"mer\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Simmered; p. pr. & vb. n. Simmering.] [Prov. E. also simper; -- an onomatopoetic word.] To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil.

I simmer as liquor doth on the fire before it beginneth to boil. --Palsgrave.

Simmer

Sim"mer\, v. t. To cause to boil gently; to cook in liquid heated almost or just to the boiling point.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : simmer
Spanish: hervir a fuego lento,
German: sieden,
Japanese: とろ火で煮る
More Translations »

simmer 
1653, alteration of simperen "to simmer" (1477), possibly of imitative origin. Fig. sense, of feelings, "to be agitated" is from 1764. Opposite sense, in simmer down, first recorded 1871.
"I must and will keep shady and quiet till Bret Harte simmers down a little." [Mark Twain, letter, 1871]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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