Idioms for boil

    boil off, Textiles.
    1. to degum (silk).
    2. to remove (sizing, wax, impurities, or the like) from a fabric by subjecting it to a hot scouring solution.
    Also boil out.

Origin of boil

1
1250–1300; Middle English boillen < Anglo-French, Old French boillir < Latin bullīre to bubble, effervesce, boil, verbal derivative of bulla bubble

synonym study for boil

4. Boil, seethe, simmer, stew are used figuratively to refer to agitated states of emotion. To boil suggests the state of being very hot with anger or rage: Rage made his blood boil. To seethe is to be deeply stirred, violently agitated, or greatly excited: A mind seething with conflicting ideas. To simmer means to be on the point of bursting out or boiling over: to simmer with curiosity, with anger. To stew is to worry, to be in a restless state of anxiety and excitement: to stew about ( or over ) one's troubles.

Words nearby boil

bohrium, bohunk, boi, boiardo, boieldieu, boil, boil away, boil down, boil off, boil over, boil up

Words related to boil down

abridge, compress, trim, cut, abbreviate, minimize, lessen, reduce, slash, curtail, shrink, facilitate, clarify, shorten, streamline, rehash, outline, compile, epitomize, recap

British Dictionary definitions for boil down (1 of 3)

boil down

verb (adverb)

to reduce or be reduced in quantity and usually altered in consistency by boiling to boil a liquid down to a thick glue
boil down to
  1. (intr) to be the essential element in something
  2. (tr) to summarize; reduce to essentials

British Dictionary definitions for boil down (2 of 3)

boil 1
/ (bɔɪl) /

verb

noun

the state or action of boiling (esp in the phrases on the boil, off the boil)
See also boil away, boil down, boil off, boil over, boil up

Derived forms of boil

boilable, adjective

Word Origin for boil

C13: from Old French boillir, from Latin bullīre to bubble, from bulla a bubble

British Dictionary definitions for boil down (3 of 3)

boil 2
/ (bɔɪl) /

noun

a red painful swelling with a hard pus-filled core caused by bacterial infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, esp at a hair follicle Technical name: furuncle

Word Origin for boil

Old English bӯle; related to Old Norse beyla swelling, Old High German būlla bladder, Gothic ufbauljan to inflate

Medical definitions for boil down

boil
[ boil ]

n.

A painful, circumscribed pus-filled inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue usually caused by a local staphylococcal infection. furuncle

Scientific definitions for boil down

boil
[ boil ]

To change from a liquid to a gaseous state by being heated to the boiling point and being provided with sufficient energy. Boiling is an example of a phase transition.

Idioms and Phrases with boil down (1 of 2)

boil down
1

Simplify, summarize, or shorten, as in John finally managed to boil his thesis down to 200 pages.

2

boil down to. Be reducible to basic elements, be equivalent to. For example, What this issue boils down to is that the council doesn't want to spend more money. These metaphoric usages allude to reducing and concentrating a substance by boiling off liquid. [Late 1800s]

Idioms and Phrases with boil down (2 of 2)

boil