Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To change from a liquid to a vapor by the application of heat.
- intransitive verb To reach the boiling point.
- intransitive verb To undergo the action of boiling, especially in being cooked.
- intransitive verb To be in a state of agitation; seethe.
- intransitive verb To be stirred up or greatly excited, especially in anger.
- intransitive verb To vaporize (a liquid) by the application of heat.
- intransitive verb To heat to the boiling point.
- intransitive verb To cook or clean by boiling.
- intransitive verb To separate by evaporation in the process of boiling.
- noun The condition or act of boiling.
- noun Lower Southern US A picnic featuring shrimp, crab, or crayfish boiled in large pots with spices, and then shelled and eaten by hand.
- noun An agitated, swirling, roiling mass of liquid.
- noun A painful, circumscribed pus-filled inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue usually caused by a local staphylococcal infection.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun An inflamed and painful suppurating tumor; a furuncle.
- noun The state or act of boiling; boiling-point: as, to bring water to a boil.
- noun That which is boiled; a boiling preparation.
- noun The period during which the carbon is being burned out of the iron in a puddling-furnace. During this period jets of burning carbonic oxid cover the surface of the bath.
- To bubble up or be in a state of ebullition, especially through the action of heat, the bubbles of gaseous vapor which have been formed in the lower portion rising to the surface and escaping: said of a liquid, and sometimes of the containing vessel: as, the water boils; the pot boils.
- To be in an agitated state like that of boiling, through any other cause than heat or diminished pressure; exhibit a swirling or swelling motion; seethe: as, the waves boil.
- To be agitated by vehement or angry feeling; be hot or excited: as, my blood boils at this injustice.
- To undergo or be subjected to the action of water or other liquid when at the point of ebullition: as, the meat is now boiling.
- To put into a state of ebullition; cause to be agitated or to bubble by the application of heat.
- To collect, form, or separate by the application of heat, as sugar, salt, etc.
- To subject to the action of heat in a liquid raised to its point of ebullition, so as to produce some specific effect; cook or seethe in a boiling liquid: as, to
boil meat, potatoes, etc.; to boil silk, thread, etc.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun colloq. Act or state of boiling.
- intransitive verb 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.
- intransitive verb To be agitated like boiling water, by any other cause than heat; to bubble; to effervesce.
- intransitive verb To pass from a liquid to an aëriform state or vapor when heated.
- intransitive verb To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid.
- intransitive verb To be in boiling water, as in cooking.
- intransitive verb to vaporize; to evaporate or be evaporated by the action of heat.
- intransitive verb 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.
- transitive verb To heat to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition.
- transitive verb To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation.
- transitive verb To subject to the action of heat in a boiling liquid so as to produce some specific effect, as cooking, cleansing, etc..
- transitive verb obsolete To steep or soak in warm water.
- transitive verb to reduce in bulk by boiling; as, to
boil down sap or sirup. - noun 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 . - noun one that suppurates imperfectly, or fails to come to a head.
- noun (Med.) a peculiar affection of the skin, probably parasitic in origin, prevailing in India (as among the British troops) and especially at Delhi.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
localized accumulation ofpus in the skin, resulting frominfection . - noun The point at which fluid begins to change to a
vapour . - noun A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Next take, say, a pint of milk, and let it boil; then throw in the bread-crumbs and let them _boil_ in the milk.
Cassell's Vegetarian Cookery A Manual of Cheap and Wholesome Diet A. G. Payne 1867
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The idea is you heat the mouth guard, then bite down on it to shape it to your mouth hence the name "boil and bite".
Thomas P. Connelly, D.D.S.: Mouth Guards -- Protecting Your Children's Teeth in Sports D.D.S. Thomas P. Connelly 2011
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The idea is you heat the mouth guard, then bite down on it to shape it to your mouth hence the name "boil and bite".
Thomas P. Connelly, D.D.S.: Mouth Guards -- Protecting Your Children's Teeth in Sports D.D.S. Thomas P. Connelly 2011
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First of all this water coming out of the ground here, this is what they call a boil, this is actually water from the Mississippi River that's boiling out of the ground here, which is fascinating considering that we are obviously on the dry side of the levee.
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A carbuncle is a large boil or abscess – i guess what he called a boil would be what we would call a small boil.
Banting’s Letter on Corpulence | The Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D. 2007
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It does seem, however, that I've read that one reason to add the salt after the water has begun to boil is to avoid pitting a non-stick surface.
Archive 2005-11-01 2005
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"That particular dam has what we call a boil," Huey said.
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And Dbadass, a Door County fish boil is something of a culinary treat.
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At higher altitudes, brewing with water at a full rolling boil is mandatory.
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At higher altitudes, brewing with water at a full rolling boil is mandatory.
maryw commented on the word boil
David Sedaris, “”Father Time,” New Yorker (Dec. 31, 2018)December 22, 2019