Boil Definition

boil
boiled, boiling, boils
verb
boiled, boiling, boils
To change from a liquid to a vapor by the application of heat.
All the water boiled away and left the kettle dry.
American Heritage
To reach the vaporizing stage.
Webster's New World
To undergo the action of boiling, especially in being cooked.
American Heritage
To seethe or churn like a boiling liquid.
Webster's New World
To bubble up and vaporize over direct heat.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
noun
boils

The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour.

Add the noodles when the water comes to the boil.
Wiktionary
The act or state of boiling.
Webster's New World
A picnic featuring shrimp, crab, or crayfish boiled in large pots with spices, and then shelled and eaten by hand.
American Heritage
An agitated, swirling, roiling mass of liquid.
American Heritage
An inflamed, painful, pus-filled swelling on the skin, caused by localized infection; furuncle.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
idiom
boil away
  • to evaporate as a result of boiling
Webster's New World
boil down
  • to lessen in quantity by boiling, esp. so as to change consistency
  • to make more terse; condense; summarize
Webster's New World
boil down to
  • to mean, when summarized; amount to

    what it all boils down to is more unemployment

Webster's New World
boil over
  • to come to a boil and spill over the rim
  • to lose one's temper; get excited
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Boil

Noun

Singular:
boil
Plural:
boils

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Boil

Origin of Boil

  • Middle English boillen, from Old French boillir (French: bouillir) from Latin bullīre, present active infinitive of bulliō (“I bubble, boil”), from bulla (“bubble”). Displaced native Middle English sethen "to boil" (from Old English sēoþan "to boil, seethe"), Middle English wellen "to boil, bubble" (from Old English wiellan "to bubble, boil"), Middle English wallen "to well up, boil" (from Old English weallan "to well up, boil"). More at seethe, well.

    From Wiktionary

  • From Middle English bile, büle (“boil, tumor”), from Old English bȳl, bȳle (“boil, swelling”), from Proto-Germanic *būlijō, *būlō (“boil”). Akin to German Beule (“boil, hump”), Icelandic beyla (“swelling, hump”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English boillen from Old French boillir from Latin bullīre from bulla bubble

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Middle English bile from Old English bȳle

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to boil using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

boil