roil

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to make a liquid cloudy or muddy by stirring up sediment

   The oar roiled the clear shallows and lifted silt from the bottom.

2. 2
   verb

   to disturb, agitate, or anger a person, group, or situation

   The sudden accusation roiled the otherwise calm meeting.

3. 3
   verb

   to move in a turbulent, churning way or remain in a state of agitation

   Dark clouds roiled above the coast as the storm approached.

The origin is uncertain. Roil may be related to Middle French rouiller, 'to make muddy or rusty,' from a word for mud or rust. Its earliest English senses concern making liquid turbid; the meanings 'agitate' and 'anger' developed figuratively from that disturbance.

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