- [singular] a period of boiling; the point at which liquid boils
- (British English) Bring the soup to the boil, then allow it to simmer for five minutes.
- (North American English) Bring the soup to a boil.
- The sauce should thicken as it comes to the boil.
Extra Examples- Just before the milk comes to the boil, turn down the heat.
- When it comes to a boil, reduce the heat.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- rolling
- bring something to
- come to
- go off
- …
- [countable] a painful swelling (= an area that is larger and rounder than normal) under the skin which is full of a thick yellow liquid (called pus)
- The doctor lanced the boil.
- The boil on his back was painful.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverb + boil- lance
Word Originnoun sense 1 Middle English: from Old French boillir, from Latin bullire ‘to bubble’, from bulla ‘bubble’. noun sense 2 Old English bȳle, bȳl, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch buil and German Beule.
Idioms
See boil in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryoff the boil
- (British English) less good than before
- The second series of the show really went off the boil.
- He played brilliantly for the first set but then went rather off the boil.
on the boil
- very active
- We have several projects all on the boil at once.
Check pronunciation:
boil