# boil

Pronunciation: US say "BOY-uhl" /ˈbɔɪ.əl/; UK say "BOYL" /bɔɪl/

## Verb

1. To cook food by keeping it in water that is bubbling at a full boil.
   - Simple: To cook food by putting it in very hot, bubbling water.
   - _Boil the lobster for about eight minutes before serving._
   - _Many cooks boil vegetables briefly to keep their color._
2. To heat a liquid until it reaches the temperature where it begins changing into a gas.
   - Simple: To heat a liquid until it gets so hot that it turns into gas.
   - _Boil the water for a full minute to make it safe to drink._
   - _She boiled the syrup until it began to steam._
3. To reach the temperature at which a liquid bubbles and starts changing into a gas.
   - Simple: To get so hot that bubbles form and the liquid starts to turn into gas.
   - _The kettle takes about three minutes to boil._
   - _As the pot boils, steam rises toward the ceiling._
7. To be stirred by strong emotion, especially anger; to feel intensely heated with passion.
   - Simple: To feel very strong emotion, especially anger, building up inside you.
   - _His blood began to boil at the unfairness of the decision._
   - _The crowd boiled with excitement as the team scored._
8. To churn and bubble as though boiling; to effervesce.
   - Simple: To bubble and move around quickly, the way boiling water does.
   - _The rapids boil over the hidden rocks below the bridge._
   - _Lava boiled at the surface of the crater._
11. To heat a container or its contents until the liquid inside bubbles and turns to steam. *(colloquial, UK)*
   - Simple: To heat water or food in a pot or kettle until it bubbles.
   - _Boil the kettle while I get the mugs ready._
   - _She boiled a large pot for the soup._
12. To produce or separate a substance by boiling a liquid away or letting it evaporate.
   - Simple: To make or separate something by heating a liquid until it bubbles away.
   - _Workers boil the sap for hours to make maple syrup._
   - _Salt makers boil the brine until only crystals remain in the pan._
13. To be uncomfortably hot, as a room or day that feels far too warm. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To be very hot in a way that feels unpleasant.
   - _The attic boils every afternoon in midsummer._
   - _Cheap apartments boil under flat roofs all summer long._
14. To feel uncomfortably hot, as a person suffering in heavy clothes or strong heat. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To feel very hot and uncomfortable in your own body.
   - _She was boiling in her wool sweater by midday._
   - _Commuters boil on packed trains during the summer rush._

## Noun

4. A localized, pus-filled lump that forms in the skin as a result of infection.
   - Simple: A red, painful lump on the skin that is full of pus and caused by infection.
   - _A boil had formed on his shoulder and needed to be lanced._
   - _She covered the boil with a bandage until it healed._
5. The temperature at which a liquid begins to change into a vapor; the boiling point.
   - Simple: The temperature at which a liquid gets hot enough to start turning into gas.
   - _Bring the stock to a rolling boil, then reduce the heat._
   - _The sauce should never quite reach a boil, or it will curdle._
6. A single instance or act of boiling something.
   - Simple: A single act of bringing something to a boil.
   - _The recipe calls for a brief boil followed by a long simmer._
   - _One more boil should reduce the liquid by half._
9. A dish consisting of food, especially seafood, cooked by boiling.
   - Simple: A meal of food, especially seafood, that has been cooked by boiling.
   - _A Lowcountry boil brings together shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes._
   - _They served the boil on newspaper spread across the table._
10. A social gathering where people boil and eat food together, especially seafood such as crab or shrimp. *(US)*
   - Simple: A get-together where people cook and eat food, often seafood, in boiling water.
   - _The whole neighborhood turned out for the annual crawfish boil._
   - _She hosted a low-country boil with shrimp, sausage, and corn._
17. A group of hawks, considered together as a single flock in flight. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: A group of hawks seen together.
   - _A boil of hawks wheeled over the ridge at dusk._
   - _The birders counted a boil of hawks soaring on the thermals._

## Noun

15. A bubbling or churning of liquid, especially the agitation of water as it heats or is disturbed. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A bubbling movement in a liquid, like the surface of water that is heating up.
   - _A constant boil disturbed the surface where the hot spring fed the pool._
   - _The boil of the cauldron sent steam curling toward the rafters._

## Verb

16. To steep or soak something in warm water, as for softening or cleansing it. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: To soak or leave something resting in warm water.

## Origin

**Meaning 4** — This sense, meaning a skin swelling, comes from Middle English 'bile', from Old English 'bȳl', 'bȳle' ('boil, swelling'), from Proto-Germanic '*būlijō'. It is related to Dutch 'buil', German 'Beule', and Icelandic 'beyla'. The expected form would be 'bile', but the vowel may have been rounded by the initial b- or by association with the verb 'boil'.
**Meanings 1–3, 5–17** — This verb comes from Middle English 'boillen', from Old French 'boillir' (modern French 'bouillir'), from Latin 'bullīre' ('to bubble, boil'), from 'bulla' ('bubble'). It displaced the native Old English 'weallan' and 'wiellan'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/boil (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).