Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To be cooked gently or remain just at or below the boiling point.
- v. To be filled with pent-up emotion; seethe.
- v. To be in a state of gentle ferment: thoughts simmering in the back of her mind.
- v. To cook (food) gently in a liquid just at or below the boiling point.
- v. To keep (a liquid) near or just below the boiling point. See Synonyms at boil1.
- n. The state or process of simmering.
- simmer down To become calm after excitement or anger.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To make a gentle murmuring or hissing sound, under the action of heat, as liquids when beginning to boil; hence, to become heated gradually: said especially of liquids which are to be kept, while heating, just below the boiling-point.
- Figuratively, to be on the point of boiling or breaking forth, as suppressed anger.
- To cause to simmer; heat gradually: said especially of liquids kept just below the boiling-point.
- n. A gentle, gradual, uniform heating: said especially of liquids.
- n. A Scotch form of summer.
Wiktionary
- n. The state or process of simmering.
- v. To cook or undergo heating slowly at or below the boiling point.
- v. To cause to cook or to cause to undergo heating slowly at or below the boiling point.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To boil gently, or with a gentle hissing; to begin to boil.
- v. To cause to boil gently; to cook in liquid heated almost or just to the boiling point.
WordNet 3.0
- v. boil slowly at low temperature
- n. temperature just below the boiling point
Etymologies
- Alteration of Middle English simpire, to simmer, probably of imitative origin.
Examples
“Cook for about 15 minutes, checking every five minutes to stir and to ensure that a simmer is maintained and that liquid remains.”
“So I set the timer for every 5 or 10 minutes until it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and check it every 5 or 10 minutes until the simmer is stabilized.”
“Between the tender chicken and the beautiful vegetables, this soup -- a long, gentle simmer is key -- was good enough to revive the comatose.”
“If your characters never seem to have anything to say, if all their obstacles are too easily solvable, you might want to consider letting the idea simmer for a while longer.”
“In medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of the milk just to a simmer, which is when you start to see steam rising from the pan.”
“But he might let the idea simmer, might watch for a chance.”
Quiller Bamboo
“The Dragonfly is light, stable, and it can simmer, which is rare in a stove like this.”
“5 Return to the heat - increasing slightly to obtain a simmer, which is to be maintained for 10-15 minutes, depending on desired thickness.”
“I predict this will "simmer" as have other issues.”
Anti-Obama Fury Spills Over Into Down-Ticket Contests: "Bomb Obama"
“We want you two to kind of simmer it down because you're turning off a lot of viewers.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘simmer’.
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Of Imitative Origin
Words formed in imitation of the sound of the things they signify.
bawl, biff, blizzard, blob, blooper, bob, boff, bomb, bonkers, boo, borborygmus, brouhaha and 148 more...
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Sounds
words that describe sound
atchoo, atishoo, babble, bam, bay, beep, blast, blather, bleat, bleep, blip, bong and 241 more...
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Fire
Words describing or related to fire.
burn, blaze, brand, sizzle, scorch, char, crisp, crackle, kindle, flame, inferno, pyre and 27 more...
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Words the sound like their meaning
love, hate, butterfly, whisper, shout, boil, simmer, glide, kiss, wisp, hum, hammer and 30 more...
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My Favorite Words(:
These are all the words I LOVE! Some are real, some are made up, some are different languages. But I love em' all just the same!
sheath, spectacular, spectabulousarific, lovely, hola, silly, rice, nostalgia, lemons, jargon, strucken, perpendicular and 11 more...

bilby Scots - summer.
As on the banks o' wandering Nith,
Ae smiling simmer morn I stray'd,
And traced its bonie howes and haughs,
Where linties sang and lammies play'd,
I sat me down upon a craig,
And drank my fill o' fancy's dream,
When from the eddying deep below,
Up rose the genius of the stream.
- Robert Burns, 'Verses On The Destruction Of The Woods Near Drumlanrig'. Jan 28, 2009