Boil (boil), v. i. [imp. & p.
p. Boiled (boild); p. pr. & vb. n.
Boiling.] [OE. boilen, OF. boilir, builir, F.
bouillir, fr. L. bullire to be in a bubbling motion, from
bulla bubble; akin to Gr. ?, Lith. bumbuls. Cf.
Bull an edict, Budge, v., and
Ebullition.] 1. To be agitated, or tumultuously
moved, as a liquid by the generation and rising of bubbles of steam (or
vapor), or of currents produced by heating it to the boiling point; to be
in a state of ebullition; as, the water boils.
2. To be agitated like boiling water, by any other
cause than heat; to bubble; to effervesce; as, the boiling
waves.
He maketh the deep to boil like a pot.
Job xii. 31.
3. To pass from a liquid to an aƫriform state
or vapor when heated; as, the water boils away.
4. To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot
or fervid; as, his blood boils with anger.
Then boiled my breast with flame and burning
wrath.
Surrey.
5. To be in boiling water, as in cooking; as, the
potatoes are boiling.
To boil away, to vaporize; to evaporate or be
evaporated by the action of heat. -- To boil over,
to run over the top of a vessel, as liquid when thrown into violent
agitation by heat or other cause of effervescence; to be excited with ardor
or passion so as to lose self-control.
Boil, v. t. 1. To heat
to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition; as, to boil
water.
2. To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation;
as, to boil sugar or salt.
3. To subject to the action of heat in a boiling
liquid so as to produce some specific effect, as cooking, cleansing, etc.;
as, to boil meat; to boil clothes.
The stomach cook is for the hall,
And boileth meate for them all.
Gower.
4. To steep or soak in warm water. [Obs.]
To try whether seeds be old or new, the sense can not
inform; but if you boil them in water, the new seeds will sprout
sooner.
Bacon.
To boil down, to reduce in bulk by boiling; as, to
boil down sap or sirup.
Boil, n. Act or state of boiling.
[Colloq.]
Boil, n. [Influenced by boil, v. See
Beal, Bile.] A hard, painful, inflamed tumor, which, on
suppuration, discharges pus, mixed with blood, and discloses a small
fibrous mass of dead tissue, called the core.
A blind boil, one that suppurates imperfectly, or
fails to come to a head. -- Delhi boil
(Med.), a peculiar affection of the skin, probably parasitic in
origin, prevailing in India (as among the British troops) and especially at
Delhi.