Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To cook partially by boiling for a brief period.
  • transitive verb To subject to intense, often uncomfortable heat.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To boil thoroughly.
  • To boil slightly or in a moderate degree; half-boil.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb obsolete To boil or cook thoroughly.
  • transitive verb To boil in part; to cook partially by boiling.
  • transitive verb To do (something) only part way, or incompletely. Also used intransitively.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To boil food briefly so that it is partly cooked.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb cook (vegetables) briefly

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English parboilen, to boil partly, to boil thoroughly (influenced by part, part), from Old French parboillir, to boil thoroughly, from Late Latin perbullīre : Latin per-, thoroughly; see per– + Latin bullīre, to boil.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French parbouillir ("to boil thoroughly"), from Medieval Latin perbulliō, from Latin per ("thoroughly") + bulliō ("I boil"). Sense “to boil partially” (c.1440), rather than original “to boil thoroughly” is by corruption: associating the prefix with part (from Latin pars ("part")) rather than per.

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Examples

  • •Seasoned: Quickly parboil aka blanch, drain, then place in a hot skillet or wok with a tablespoon or two of your favorite high-heat cooking oil and toss to coat.

    Family Kitchen: A smorgasbord of summer vegetable dishes 2011

  • This, if you will, is the rösti equivalent of the cream-first v jam-first scone war – some people parboil the potatoes before grating, and others don't bother.

    How to cook the perfect rösti 2011

  • Whatever size favas you use, the best bet is to parboil the beans, peel them, then finish cooking until beans are tender.

    Ellen Kanner: Meatless Monday: Ful For Love Ellen Kanner 2011

  • Just cut a stick of feta, cover it in spinach (I thawed whole leaf spinach from my freezer – if you use fresh parboil them so they wilt and press out the water), then roll the feta-spinach roll up in the dough triangle.

    Bento #223 « Were rabbits 2009

  • Whatever size favas you use, the best bet is to parboil the beans, peel them, then finish cooking until beans are tender.

    Ellen Kanner: Meatless Monday: Ful For Love Ellen Kanner 2011

  • But always parboil the liver first by dropping it into boiling water for a moment to seal in the juices and insure it remains tender, rather than turning into something resembling shoe leather.

    The Plea: Remember the Liver 2009

  • Corn•Curried kernels: With a sharp knife, slice off kernels and parboil for one minute in a small saucepan.

    Family Kitchen: A smorgasbord of summer vegetable dishes 2011

  • For some Swiss, it's not enough to parboil the potatoes – they must be done a day in advance and chilled before grating.

    How to cook the perfect rösti 2011

  • But always parboil the liver first by dropping it into boiling water for a moment to seal in the juices and insure it remains tender, rather than turning into something resembling shoe leather.

    The Plea: Remember the Liver 2009

  • For the other, I parboil two potatoes until just tender; once they're cool enough to handle, they're grated and cooked in exactly the same way.

    How to cook the perfect rösti 2011

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