parboil

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to boil food briefly or until it is only partly cooked, usually before cooking it by another method

   Parboil the potatoes for five minutes before roasting them.

2. 2
   verb

   figurative or humorous: to subject a person or body part to severe, scalding heat

   The burst pipe nearly parboiled his hands before he could turn off the valve.

From Middle English parboilen and Old French parbouillir, originally 'boil thoroughly,' from Latin per-, 'thoroughly,' + bullire, 'to boil.' English speakers later associated par- with part, producing the modern sense 'boil partly.' The figurative sense applies cooking heat to a person or body part.

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