boil
boil — verb
1. for a liquid to get hot enough to make many bubbles and give off steam, or to he
for a liquid to get hot enough to make many bubbles and give off steam, or to heat it until this happens.
The water boiled after eight minutes on the gas stove.
[liquid] + boils
Priya boiled fresh milk for tea before her guests arrived.
boil + liquid
Small bubbles showed first, then the soup boiled near the rim.
On the mountain, water boils sooner than it does at home.
- boil water
- boil milk
- boil soup
- bring to the boil
- heat
broader; it does not say the liquid has reached this stage
- bubble
focuses on the look of the liquid, not always the full temperature
- bring to the boil
common phrase for causing a liquid to reach this point
Grammar Patterns
boil + liquid
[liquid] + boils
Usage Note
With a liquid as subject or object. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense names the liquid itself, while sense 2 uses a container such as a kettle or pan.
Common Mistakes
2. to heat a kettle, pan, or similar container until the water or other liquid insi
to heat a kettle, pan, or similar container until the water or other liquid inside is boiling.
Leila boiled the kettle while Bao set out the cups.
boil + kettle
The old pan was boiling on the back burner by noon.
[container] + is boiling
Hiro boiled a large pot for pasta before lunch.
boil + pot
By the time the bell rang, the camping kettle had boiled.
- boil the kettle
- boil a pan
- boil a pot
- the kettle is boiling
- take off
to remove the container from the heat
Grammar Patterns
boil + kettle / pan / pot
[kettle / pan / pot] + boils
Usage Note
Object or subject is a container, not the liquid. In everyday use, speakers often mean the water inside the kettle or pan.
Common Mistakes
3. to prepare food in strongly bubbling water.
to prepare food in strongly bubbling water.
Omar boiled potatoes for the picnic lunch beside the lake.
boil + food
The noodles boiled for three minutes in a wide pan.
[food] + boils
Aiko boiled corn on the small stove after the market closed.
The beans need to boil a little longer before dinner.
- boil eggs
- boil potatoes
- boil noodles
- boiled corn
Grammar Patterns
boil + food
[food] + boils
Usage Note
Object is usually food such as eggs, potatoes, or noodles. Distinguish from sense 1, where the thing boiling is simply the liquid, and from sense 5, which is about clothes.
Common Mistakes
4. if a pan or the food in it boils dry, the water is all gone after too much heati
if a pan or the food in it boils dry, the water is all gone after too much heating.
The rice boiled dry while Greta answered the phone downstairs.
boil dry
By sunset, the soup had boiled dry in the cracked pot.
One pan nearly boiled dry because the lid was loose.
At camp, the beans boiled dry and left a black ring.
- boil dry
- nearly boil dry
- soak
to keep something in liquid instead of losing it
Grammar Patterns
[pan / food] + boils dry
boil + [something] + dry
Usage Note
Usually appears as 'boil dry'. Subject is often a pan, rice, soup, or beans. The focus is the loss of water, not successful cooking.
5. to clean clothes by washing them in very hot water, often in an old-fashioned wa
to clean clothes by washing them in very hot water, often in an old-fashioned way.
Aunt Rosa boiled the baby clothes in a metal tub.
boil + clothes
The hotel boiled white towels after the muddy flood.
boil + towels
The nurse boiled sheets every evening in the old laundry room.
The old machine could boil cotton shirts but not wool socks.
- boil sheets
- boil towels
- boil baby clothes
- dry-clean
to clean clothes without water
Grammar Patterns
boil + clothes / sheets / towels
Usage Note
Usually about old-fashioned washing methods or special cleaning. Object is fabric, especially white clothes, sheets, or towels.
Common Mistakes
6. to feel extremely angry, as if the anger is rising strongly inside you.
to feel extremely angry, as if the anger is rising strongly inside you.
Kofi boiled with anger when he saw the broken violin.
boil with anger
Nadia was boiling after the airline lost her bag again.
Anger boiled inside the crowd as the gates stayed shut.
anger boiled inside + [group]
Farouk looked calm, but he was boiling during the meeting.
- boil with anger
- boil inside
Grammar Patterns
boil with anger
anger boils inside + [person]
Usage Note
Usually followed by a feeling word such as 'with anger' or shown by 'anger boiled inside…'. Distinguish from senses 1-5, which describe real heat.
Common Mistakes
boil down
phrasal verbTo reduce something by boiling or to summarize information.
The chef boiled down the sauce to make it thicker.
Can you boil down the report to just one page?
boil down to
phrasal verbTo have a particular thing as the main or most important part.
The problem boils down to a lack of communication.
What does the argument boil down to in the end?
boil over
phrasal verbTo overflow while boiling, or to become very angry and lose control.
The milk boiled over and made a mess on the stove.
His frustration boiled over during the meeting.
boil up
phrasal verbTo heat a liquid until it boils, or for a feeling to become stronger.
She boiled up some water for tea.
Anger boiled up inside him as he listened.
boil the ocean
idiomTo try to do something that is too big or impossible to achieve.
Our team decided not to boil the ocean with this project.
Why would you boil the ocean by trying to fix all problems at once?
To make someone extremely angry.
The unfair decision made my blood boil.
Doesn't it make your blood boil when people are rude?
Time seems to pass more slowly when you are waiting for something to happen.
I kept checking the clock, but a watched pot never boils.
Stop staring at the door—a watched pot never boils.
boil — noun
1. a sore, swollen lump on the skin with pus inside.
a sore, swollen lump on the skin with pus inside.
A boil appeared on Ravi's neck after the wet camping trip.
a boil on + body part
The doctor said the boil on Mei's arm needed treatment.
Warm cloths helped the boil open and drain more easily.
Yara covered the boil with a clean bandage before school.
- a painful boil
- a boil on the neck
- drain a boil
Grammar Patterns
a boil on + body part
Usage Note
Common with body parts such as neck, arm, leg, or face. In everyday speech, people often explain it as an infected lump rather than naming it.
2. one round of boiling used to cook food or wash cloth in hot water.
one round of boiling used to cook food or wash cloth in hot water.
Give the towels a short boil before hanging them outside.
give + [thing] + a boil
The carrots need one more boil before they are soft.
After a long boil, the bones were ready for soup.
after a long boil
One extra boil made the white shirts look much cleaner.
- a quick boil
- one more boil
- a long boil
Grammar Patterns
give + [thing] + a boil
after a long boil
Usage Note
Usually refers to one period of washing or cooking in very hot water. Distinguish from sense 3, which names the boiling state itself.
3. the condition of a liquid when it is fully boiling and bubbles are rising fast.
the condition of a liquid when it is fully boiling and bubbles are rising fast.
Keep the milk at a gentle boil for two minutes.
at a gentle boil
The jam reached a fast boil before the sugar dissolved.
Once the soup is at the boil, add the noodles.
at the boil
Steam filled the room as the kettle came to a boil.
come to a boil
- at a gentle boil
- at the boil
- come to a boil
- boiling point
the temperature value, not the state in a pan or pot
- simmer
a weaker cooking state below a full boil
- coolness
the condition of being cool rather than hot
Grammar Patterns
at a boil
come to a boil
Usage Note
Most often appears in fixed phrases such as 'at a boil' and 'come to a boil'. Distinguish from sense 2, which counts one period of boiling as an event.
Word family
- boiledadjectiveA2
- boilingadjectiveB1
- boilernounB2
Synonym discussion
Sense: verb/1
For verb/1, boil is the normal word when a liquid reaches the stage where large bubbles rise and steam forms. Simmer is weaker: the liquid stays just below a full boil, so it cooks more gently. Bubble is more visual; it describes what you can see on the surface, and something can bubble without being fully boiled. Steam focuses on the vapor, not on the liquid reaching this temperature, so a mirror can steam up even when nothing is boiling. Cook is much broader and does not tell you the method. Say 'The water is boiling,' 'The soup is simmering,' 'The mud was bubbling,' and 'The bathroom steamed up after the shower.'
Etymology
Boil came into English through Old French from Latin bullire, a verb meaning 'to bubble up' or 'to boil'. That Latin form is linked to bulla, meaning 'bubble'. The history matches the core picture of the word: rising bubbles in hot liquid. From that image, English also developed the figurative anger sense and the noun for a swollen sore on the skin.