Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb To make (a liquid) turbulent or muddy or cloudy by stirring up sediment.
  • intransitive verb To cause to be in a state of agitation or disorder.
  • intransitive verb Usage Problem To put in a state of emotional agitation; rile or upset.
  • intransitive verb To move or be in a state of turbulence, especially because of an abundance of something.
  • intransitive verb To be agitated or chaotic.
  • intransitive verb To be vexed or upset.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To run; wander; roll; rove.
  • noun A Flemish horse.
  • To render turbid by stirring up the dregs or sediment: as, to roil wine, cider, or other liquor in casks or bottles.
  • To excite to some degree of anger; annoy; vex: now more commonly, in colloquial use, rile.
  • To perplex.
  • To salt (fish) by means of a roiler.

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

  • intransitive verb obsolete To wander; to roam.
  • intransitive verb Prov. Eng. To romp.
  • transitive verb To render turbid by stirring up the dregs or sediment of; , in casks or bottles; to roil a spring.
  • transitive verb To disturb, as the temper; to ruffle the temper of; to rouse the passion of resentment in; to perplex.

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

  • verb To render turbid by stirring up the dregs or sediment of
  • verb To annoy; to make someone angry.
  • verb intransitive To bubble, seethe.
  • verb obsolete, intransitive To wander; to roam.
  • verb obsolete, UK, dialect, intransitive To romp.

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

  • verb make turbid by stirring up the sediments of
  • verb be agitated

Etymologies

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

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Possibly from French Middle French rouiller ("to rust, make muddy"), from Old French rouil ("mud, rust"), from Vulgar Latin *robicula, from Latin robigo ("rust, blight")

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