Boil /(boil)/

Boil

v. i.

imp. & p. p. Boiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Boiling

  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 aëriform 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.

Phrases & Compounds

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

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.

Phrases & Compounds

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

Boil

n.
  1. Act or state of boiling. [Colloq.]

Boil

n.
  1. 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.

Phrases & Compounds

A blind boil
one that suppurates imperfectly, or fails to come to a head.
Delhi boil
a peculiar affection of the skin, probably parasitic in origin, prevailing in India (as among the British troops) and especially at Delhi.