BOIL


Meaning of BOIL in English

I. boil 1 S3 /bɔɪl/ BrE AmE verb

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ boil , ↑ boiler ; verb : ↑ boil ; adjective : ↑ boiling ]

[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: boillir , from Latin bullire , from bulla 'bubble' ]

1 . [intransitive and transitive] when a liquid boils, or when you boil it, it becomes hot enough to turn into gas

boil at

The solution boiled at 57.4°C.

Put the spaghetti into plenty of boiling salted water.

We were advised to boil the water before drinking it.

2 . [intransitive and transitive] to cook something in boiling water:

a boiled egg

Boil the rice for 15 minutes.

She fried the chicken and put the vegetables on to boil.

3 . [intransitive and transitive] if something containing liquid boils, the liquid inside it is boiling:

The kettle’s boiling – shall I turn it off?

The saucepan boiled dry on the stove.

4 . [transitive] to wash something, using boiling water:

I always boil the cotton sheets.

5 . [intransitive] if you are boiling with anger, you are extremely angry

boil with

Lewis was boiling with rage and misery.

⇨ ↑ boiling point (2), ⇨ make sb’s blood boil at ↑ blood 1 (4)

• • •

THESAURUS

■ ways of cooking something

▪ bake to cook things such as bread or cakes in an oven:

Tom baked a cake for my birthday.

▪ roast to cook meat or vegetables in an oven:

Roast the potatoes for an hour.

▪ fry to cook food in hot oil:

She was frying some mushrooms.

▪ stir-fry to fry small pieces of food while moving them around continuously:

stir-fried tofu and bean sprouts

▪ sauté /ˈsəʊteɪ $ soʊˈteɪ/ to fry vegetables for a short time in a small amount of butter or oil:

Sauté the potatoes in butter.

▪ grill to cook food over or under strong heat:

grilled fish

▪ broil American English to cook food under heat:

broiled fish

▪ boil to cook something in very hot water:

He doesn’t even know how to boil an egg.

|

English people seem to love boiled vegetables.

▪ steam to cook vegetables over hot water:

Steam the rice for 15 minutes.

▪ poach to cook food, especially fish or eggs, slowly in hot water:

poached salmon

▪ toast to cook the outside surfaces of bread:

toasted muffins

▪ barbecue to cook food on a metal frame over a fire outdoors:

I thought we could barbecue some mackerel.

▪ microwave to cook food in a microwave oven:

The beans can be microwaved.

boil away phrasal verb

if a liquid boils away, it disappears because it has been heated too much:

The soup’s almost boiled away.

boil down phrasal verb

1 . boil down to something informal if a long statement, argument etc boils down to a single statement, that statement is the main point or cause:

It boils down to a question of priorities.

2 . boil something ↔ down to make a list or piece of writing shorter by not including anything that is not necessary:

You can boil this down so that there are just two main categories.

3 . if a food or liquid boils down, or if you boil it down, it becomes less after it is cooked:

Spinach tends to boil down a lot.

boil something ↔ down

glue made from boiling down old sheepskins

boil over phrasal verb

1 . if a liquid boils over when it is heated, it rises and flows over the side of the container:

The milk was boiling over on the stove behind her.

2 . if a situation or an emotion boils over, the people involved stop being calm:

All the bitterness of the last two years seemed to boil over.

boil over into

Anger eventually boils over into words that are later regretted.

boil up phrasal verb

1 . if a situation or emotion boils up, bad feelings grow until they reach a dangerous level:

She could sense that trouble was boiling up at work.

He could feel the anger boiling up inside him.

2 . boil something ↔ up to heat food or a liquid until it begins to boil:

Boil the fruit up with sugar.

II. boil 2 BrE AmE noun

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ boil , ↑ boiler ; verb : ↑ boil ; adjective : ↑ boiling ]

[ Sense 1,3: Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ boil 1 ]

[ Sense 2: Language: Old English ; Origin: byl ]

1 . the boil British English , a boil American English the act or state of boiling:

Add the seasoning and bring the sauce to the boil.

She waited for the water to come to the boil (=begin to boil) .

2 . [countable] a painful infected swelling under someone’s skin:

The boy’s body is covered in boils.

3 . go off the boil British English to become less good at something that you are usually very good at:

He’s gone off the boil after a tournament win in Dubai.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.