Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - boil

(boils, boiling, boiled) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. When a hot liquid boils or when you boil it, bubbles appear in it and it starts to change into steam or vapour. I stood in the kitchen, waiting for the water to boil... Boil the water in the saucepan and add the sage... ...a saucepan of boiling water. VERB: V, V n, V-ing 2. When you boil a kettle or pan, or put it on to boil, you heat the water inside it until it boils. He had nothing to do but boil the kettle and make the tea... Marianne put the kettle on to boil. VERB: V n, V 3. When a kettle or pan is boiling, the water inside it has reached boiling point. Is the kettle boiling? VERB: only cont, V 4. When you boil food, or when it boils, it is cooked in boiling water. Boil the chick peas, add garlic and lemon juice... I’d peel potatoes and put them on to boil. ...boiled eggs and toast. VERB: V n, V, V-ed 5. If you are boiling with anger, you are very angry. I used to be all sweetness and light on the outside, but inside I would be boiling with rage. VERB: usu cont, V with n 6. A boil is a red, painful swelling on your skin, which contains a thick yellow liquid called pus. = cyst N-COUNT 7. see also boiling 8. When you bring a liquid to the boil, you heat it until it boils. When it comes to the boil, it begins to boil. Put water, butter and lard into a saucepan and bring slowly to the boil. PHRASE: V inflects 9. to make someone’s blood boil: see blood