boil

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Contents

English [edit]

Pronunciation [edit]

Etymology 1 [edit]

Middle English bile, bule (“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”).

Noun [edit]

boil (plural boils)

  1. A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.
Synonyms [edit]
Translations [edit]
accumulation of pus
External links [edit]

Etymology 2 [edit]

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.

Noun [edit]

boil (plural boils)

  1. The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour.
    Add the noodles when the water comes to the boil.
  2. A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood.
  3. The collective noun for a group of hawks.
Translations [edit]
point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour
collective noun for hawks

Verb [edit]

boil (third-person singular simple present boils, present participle boiling, simple past and past participle boiled)

  1. (transitive) To heat (a liquid) to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
    Boil some water in a pan.
  2. (transitive, intransitive) To cook in boiling water.
    Boil the eggs for two minutes.
    Is the rice boiling yet?
  3. (intransitive) Of a liquid, to begin to turn into a gas, seethe.
    Pure water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
  4. (intransitive, informal, used only in progressive tenses) Said of weather being uncomfortably hot.
    It’s boiling outside!
  5. (intransitive, informal, used only in progressive tenses) To feel uncomfortably hot. See also seethe.
    I’m boiling in here – could you open the window?
Synonyms [edit]
Antonyms [edit]
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from boil (verb)
Related terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
heat (a liquid) until it begins to turn into a gas
cook in boiling water
begin to turn into a gas
colloquial: of the weather, to be uncomfortably hot
colloquial: of a person, to be uncomfortably hot
See also [edit]
External links [edit]

Anagrams [edit]

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