boil

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To change from a liquid to a vapor by the application of heat: All the water boiled away and left the kettle dry.
2. v. To reach the boiling point.
3. v. To undergo the action of boiling, especially in being cooked.
4. v. To be in a state of agitation; seethe: a river boiling over the rocks.
5. v. To be stirred up or greatly excited: The mere idea made me boil.
6. v. To vaporize (a liquid) by the application of heat.
7. v. To heat to the boiling point.
8. v. To cook or clean by boiling.
9. v. To separate by evaporation in the process of boiling: boil the maple sap.
10. n. The condition or act of boiling.
11. n. Lower Southern U.S. A picnic featuring shrimp, crab, or crayfish boiled in large pots with spices, and then shelled and eaten by hand.
12. n. An agitated, swirling, roiling mass of liquid: "Those tumbling boils show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there” ( Mark Twain).
13. boil down To reduce in bulk or size by boiling.
14. boil down To condense; summarize: boiled down the complex document.
15. boil down To constitute the equivalent of in summary: The scathing editorial simply boils down to an exercise in partisan politics.
16. boil over To overflow while boiling.
17. boil over To lose one's temper.
18. n. A painful, circumscribed pus-filled inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue usually caused by a local staphylococcal infection. Also called furuncle.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. An inflamed and painful suppurating tumor; a furuncle.
2. To bubble up or be in a state of ebullition, especially through the action of heat, the bubbles of gaseous vapor which have been formed in the lower portion rising to the surface and escaping: said of a liquid, and sometimes of the containing vessel: as, the water boils; the pot boils. The same action is induced by diminished pressure, as when water boils under the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, or when carbon dioxid liquefied under high pressure boils upon the removal of the pressure. See boiling-point and ebullition.
3. To be in an agitated state like that of boiling, through any other cause than heat or diminished pressure; exhibit a swirling or swelling motion; seethe: as, the waves boil.
4. To be agitated by vehement or angry feeling; be hot or excited: as, my blood boils at this injustice.
5. To undergo or be subjected to the action of water or other liquid when at the point of ebullition: as, the meat is now boiling.
6. To put into a state of ebullition; cause to be agitated or to bubble by the application of heat.
7. To collect, form, or separate by the application of heat, as sugar, salt, etc.
8. To subject to the action of heat in a liquid raised to its point of ebullition, so as to produce some specific effect; cook or seethe in a boiling liquid: as, to boil meat, potatoes, etc.; to boil silk, thread, etc.
9. n. The state or act of boiling; boiling-point: as, to bring water to a boil.
10. n. That which is boiled; a boiling preparation.
11. n. The period during which the carbon is being burned out of the iron in a puddling-furnace. During this period jets of burning carbonic oxid cover the surface of the bath.

Wiktionary

1. n. A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.
2. n. The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour.
3. n. A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood.
4. n. The collective noun for a group of hawks.
5. v. transitive To heat (a liquid) to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
6. v. transitive To cook in boiling water.
7. v. intransitive Of a liquid, to begin to turn into a gas, seethe.
8. v. intransitive, informal Said of weather being uncomfortably hot.
9. v. intransitive, informal To feel uncomfortably hot. See also seethe.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. 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.
2. v. To be agitated like boiling water, by any other cause than heat; to bubble; to effervesce.
3. v. To pass from a liquid to an aëriform state or vapor when heated.
4. v. To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid.
5. v. To be in boiling water, as in cooking.
6. v. To heat to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition.
7. v. To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation.
8. v. To subject to the action of heat in a boiling liquid so as to produce some specific effect, as cooking, cleansing, etc..
9. v. obsolete To steep or soak in warm water.
10. n. colloq. Act or state of boiling.
11. n. 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.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a painful sore with a hard core filled with pus
2. v. be in an agitated emotional state
3. v. come to the boiling point and change from a liquid to vapor
4. v. be agitated
5. n. the temperature at which a liquid boils at sea level
6. v. bring to, or maintain at, the boiling point
7. v. immerse or be immersed in a boiling liquid, often for cooking purposes