English Explanatory Dictionary

boil

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.
noun
  1. The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour; the boiling point.
  2. An instance of boiling.
  3. A dish of boiled food, especially seafood.
  4. A social event at which people gather to boil and eat food, especially seafood. (Compare a bake or clambake.)
  5. The collective noun for a group of hawks.
  6. A bubbling.
verb
  1. To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
  2. To cook in boiling water.
  3. To begin to turn into a gas, seethe.
  4. To bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil.
  5. To be uncomfortably hot.
  6. To feel uncomfortably hot.
  7. To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation.
  8. To steep or soak in warm water.
  9. To be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce.
  10. To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid.

Pronunciation

/bɔɪ(ə)l/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-boil.wav /bɔj(ᵻ)l/ /bɑj(ᵻ)l/

Word forms

boil boils boyl boyle boiling boiled boilt

Etymology

From Middle English bile, büle (“boil, tumor”), from Old English bȳl, bȳle (“boil, swelling”), from Proto-Germanic *būlijō, *būlō (“boil”). Akin to Dutch buil (“boil, swelling”), German Beule (“boil, hump”), Icelandic beyla (“swelling, hump”). The expected form is bile; the rounding of the diphthong could be caused by the initial b- and/or by association with etymology 2.

Synonyms

abscess carbuncle cyst furuncle pimple pustule seethe well plaw cook do bake scorch swelter stew

Antonyms

condense freeze

Related words

boiled dinner ebullient bake condense freeze fry grill poach steam

Derived words

Aleppo boil Baghdad boil Biskara boil blind boil Delhi boil gumboil Natal boil sand boil tar boil Beaufort boil boil order bring to a boil come to a boil crab boil fish boil go off the boil Lowcountry boil low country boil off the boil on the boil rolling boil seafood boil aboil beauty won't make the pot boil blood-boiling boilability boilable boil away boildown boil down boil down to boiled dinner boiled dressing boiled shirt boiled sweet boiler boilie boil-in-bag boiling plate boiling tube boil-in-the-bag boil off boiloff boil over boil someone's piss boil the ocean boil up boil wash boil-wash bunny-boiling double boil drunk as a boiled owl eat boiled crow emboil glue-boiler go and boil your head hard-boil hard-boiled high-boiling I don't boil my cabbage twice

Translations

Afrikaans: kook Arabic: غَلَى Armenian: եռացնել Aromanian: herbu (roa-rup) Assamese: উতলা Assamese: উতলোৱা Asturian: ferver Azerbaijani: qaynatmaq Azerbaijani: dəmlətmək Bashkir: ҡайнатыу Belarusian: кіпяціць Belarusian: закіпяціць Bhojpuri: उबाल Breton: beviñ Bulgarian: кипя Catalan: bullir Cherokee: ᎠᎵᏥᏗᎭ Chinese Mandarin: 煮沸 Chinese Mandarin: 煮 Cornish: bryjyon Corsican: bodda Czech: vařit Danish: koge Dutch: koken Dutch: aan de kook brengen Dutch: zieden Dutch: zooien Esperanto: boligi Even: хуй- Evenki: хуй- Fijian: riri Finnish: kiehuttaa French: faire bouillir French: porter à ébullition Friulian: bulî Friulian: lessâ Galician: ferver Georgian: ადუღება German: sieden Greek: βράζω Ancient Greek: ζέω Hawaiian: hoʻolapa Hebrew: הרתיח Hindi: उबलना Hungarian: forral Hungarian: felforral Icelandic: sjóða Ido: boliigar Ingrian: keehuttaa Irish: beirigh
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
Back to search All on B Russian dictionary Dahl dictionary