boil

Meanings

Noun

• A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.
• The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour.
• A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood.
• a group of hawks.
• A bubbling.

Verb

• To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
• To cook in boiling water.
• To begin to turn into a gas, seethe.
• To bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil.
• To be uncomfortably hot.
• To feel uncomfortably hot.
• To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation.
• To steep or soak in warm water.
• To be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce.
• To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid.

Related

Similar words

• abscess
• carbuncle
• cyst
• furuncle
• pimple
• pustule
• , ,

Opposite words

• condense

Origin

• From Middle English bile, bule, from Old English bȳl, bȳle, from Proto-Germanic *būlijō, *būlō. Akin to German Beule, Icelandic beyla.
• From Middle English boylen, from Old French boillir (French: bouillir) from Latin bullīre, present active infinitive of bulliō, from bulla. Displaced native Middle English sethen ("to boil") (from Old English sēoþan ("to boil, seethe")), Middle English wellen ("to boil, bubble") (from Old English wiellan ("to bubble, boil")), Middle English wallen ("to well up, boil") (from Old English weallan ("to well up, boil")). More at seethe, well.