boil

A2 Topic:Food & Drink

Also spelled bilin and biling

US /bɔj(ᵻ)l/ UK /bɔɪ(ə)l/ See IPA manual

noun verb Freq #7137

Meanings

1

verb
(of a liquid) To become hot enough to bubble and turn into vapour.

Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
2

verb
To cook food in very hot bubbling water.

I boil the eggs for exactly six minutes.
3

verb
To feel very angry.

She boiled with rage when she heard the news.
4

noun
The point at which a liquid begins to boil.

Add the pasta when the water comes to the boil.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

3 verb · to feel very angry. seethe

4 noun · the point at which a liquid... boiling point

Word family

Forms boils

Derived forms aboilblood-boilingboil-in-bagboil-in-the-bagboil-washboilabilityboilableboildownboilerboilieboiloffbunny-boiling

Related forms bake condense ebullient freeze fry grill poach steam

Common collocations

boil water Verb + noun

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.

bile Middle English bȳl Old English *būlijō Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Food & Drink Materials & Substances

# boil

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** bɔj(ᵻ)l
**IPA (UK):** bɔɪ(ə)l
**Frequency rank:** 7137

## Meanings
1. (of a liquid) To become hot enough to bubble and turn into vapour.
2. To cook food in very hot bubbling water.
3. To feel very angry.
4. The point at which a liquid begins to boil.

## Examples
- Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
- I boil the eggs for exactly six minutes.
- She boiled with rage when she heard the news.
- Add the pasta when the water comes to the boil.

## Derived Forms
- aboil
- blood-boiling
- boil-in-bag
- boil-in-the-bag
- boil-wash
- boilability
- boilable
- boildown
- boiler
- boilie
- boiloff
- bunny-boiling

## Related Forms
- bake
- condense
- ebullient
- freeze
- fry
- grill
- poach
- steam

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bile
- Root: bȳl
- Root: *būlijō

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Boil comes 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.

## Topics
- Food & Drink
- Materials & Substances

markdown