boil¹ (boil)

v., boiled, boil·ing, boils.

v.intr.

1. 1. To change from a liquid to a vapor by the application of heat: All the water boiled away and left the kettle dry.
   2. To reach the boiling point.
   3. To undergo the action of boiling, especially in being cooked.
2. To be in a state of agitation; seethe: a river boiling over the rocks.
3. To be stirred up or greatly excited: The mere idea made me boil.

v.tr.

1. 1. To vaporize (a liquid) by the application of heat.
   2. To heat to the boiling point.
2. To cook or clean by boiling.
3. To separate by evaporation in the process of boiling: boil the maple sap.

n.

1. The condition or act of boiling.
2. Lower Southern U.S. A picnic featuring shrimp, crab, or crayfish boiled in large pots with spices, and then shelled and eaten by hand.
3. An agitated, swirling, roiling mass of liquid: "Those tumbling boils show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there" (Mark Twain).

phrasal verbs:

boil down

1. To reduce in bulk or size by boiling.
2. To condense; summarize: boiled down the complex document.
3. To constitute the equivalent of in summary: The scathing editorial simply boils down to an exercise in partisan politics.

boil over

1. To overflow while boiling.
2. To lose one's temper.

[Middle English boillen, from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre, from bulla, bubble.]

boilable boil'a·ble adj.

SYNONYMS   boil, simmer, seethe, stew. These verbs mean, both literally and figuratively, to stir up or agitate. To boil is to heat a liquid to a temperature at which it bubbles up and gives off vapor: The water boiled in the kettle. Figuratively boil pertains to intense agitation: She boiled with resentment. Simmer denotes gentle cooking just at or below the boiling point: Let the stock simmer for a couple of hours. Figuratively it refers to a state of gentle ferment: Plans were simmering in his mind. Seethe emphasizes in both senses the turbulence of steady boiling: Water seethed in the cauldron. "The city had ... been seething with discontent" (John R. Green). Stew refers literally to slow boiling and figuratively to a persistent but not violent state of agitation: As the prunes stewed, I stirred them gently. "They don't want a man to fret and stew about his work" (William H. Whyte, Jr.).

boil² (boil)
n.
A painful, circumscribed pus-filled inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue usually caused by a local staphylococcal infection. Also called furuncle.

[Middle English bile, from Old English bȳle.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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