▪ I. boil, n.1
(bɔɪl)
Forms: α. 1 b{yacu}l, (4 bele, biel, byil, 4–5 bule (ü), 5 beel, 4–7 byle, 6 byelle), 3–9 bile; β. 6–7 boyle, 7 boile, 7– boil.
[OE. b{yacu}l: com. Teut. = OS. *bûlia (MDu. and MLG. bûle, Du. buil), OHG. *bûlia, bûlla (MHG. biule, mod.G. beule:—OTeut. bûljâ- str. fem., f. root bū̆l- in Goth. uf-bauljan to blow up. A diphthongal form *baul- is the base of the cognate ON. beyla hump, OF. beil, bel. The ME. form was regularly bile (Kentish bele, s.w. büle), which still prevails dialectally: it is not clear whether boil is due to association with the verb boil, or influenced by the Du. or other form. Cf. beal.]
1. A hard inflamed suppurating tumour; a furuncle.
Bile or Byle, in nearly all the dialect glossaries.
| α a 1000 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker Voc. 5 Furunculus, byl. a 1300 Cursor M. 6011 Bile, and blister, bolnand sare. 1340 Ayenb. 224 Goutes and beles. 1382 Wyclif Deut. xxviii. 27 Smyit the the Lord with the byil of Egipt. Ibid. 35 The moost yuel biel in knees. ― Luke xvi. 20 Houndis camen, and..lickiden his bylis. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xxiii. 84 Bules [v.r. byles, belis, boilus] and bocches. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 57/2 Ful of botchis, beelis and blaynes. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples 39 a, Painfull sores, Biles and pusshes. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. iv. 31 You Shames of Rome; you Heard of Byles and Plagues Plaister you o're. 1617 Markham Caval. vii. 71 They rise betweene his chappes like a huge Byle. 1737 J. Hervey Life & Lett. (1772) 212 Holy Job healed of his biles. 1748 tr. Vegetius' Distemp. Horses 62 He will have ..small Biles in his Back. |
| β 1529 More Supplic. Soules Wks. 292/2 One y{supt} hath but a poore boyle vpon hys finger. 1611 Bible 2 Kings xx. 7 They tooke and layd it on the boile, and he recouered. 1755 Johnson, Bile, this is generally spelt boil; but, I think, less properly. 1782 Priestley Nat. & Rev. Relig. II. 37 The boils..are said..to have been upon Pharoah. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. (1865) II. vii. iv. 285 The maddest boil..does at length burst, and become an abscess. |
b. A swelling [= MDu. bûle].
| 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 86 And with his feet made two grete bules aboute his eris. |
c. transf. A swelling on a painted surface resembling a boil; a blister.
| 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge lxiv. 303 The paint on the houses..crackled up, swelling into boils. |
2. fig.
| 1537 State Papers Hen. VIII, II. 410 The chief soare bile and hinderance of his obedience. 1579 J. Stubbes Gaping Gulf C iij, A politique bile enflaming the peace of a settled and euen state. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. vii. i. §21 The Rebellion..which from a small pustle might have proved a painfull bile. |
▪ II. boil, n.2
(bɔɪl)
[f. boil v.]
1. An act of boiling. spec. in N.Z., the act of making tea in a billy. Cf. boil v. 4 c and boil-up.
| c 1440 Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. 470 Gif hom but a boyle. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Apricock, Give 'em seven or eight smart Boils. 1845 E. Acton Cookery ii. (1852) 55 Give the sauce a minute's boil. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts II. 655 The extrication of gas called the boil, which accompanies the fusion of crown-glass. 1940 W. S. Gilkison Peaks, Packs & Mountain Tracks 82 The best part of a tramp on the home hills is the mid⁓day ‘boil’. 1953 B. Stronach Musterer on Molesworth iv. 26 We had a boil and then started the ascent. |
2. a. The state of boiling or being at boiling point; also transf. and fig. a state of agitation.
| 1813 Hogg Queen's Wake 302 The next [moment] nor ship nor shadow was there, But a boil that arose from the deep below. 1837 M. Donovan Dom. Econ. II. 341 As soon as the liquor comes to a boil. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. I. 44 The pudding was already on the boil. 1870 Daily News 30 Dec., The coffee was near the boil. |
b. boil-off, the evaporative loss from liquefied natural gases, esp. methane. Also attrib.
| 1956 Trans. Inst. Gas Engin. 1955–56 986 Storage tanks for liquid methane... The heat losses from the spherical tanks were found to be lower than anticipated and the measured rate of ‘boil off’ was equivalent to 0·23 per cent per day of the tank content. Ibid. 988 A vapour connexion to carry away the ‘boil off’ gas. 1960 Times 8 Mar. 17/3 It [sc. liquid methane] has been kept in special containers, the ‘boil-off’ being pumped to the board's Romford works. |
3. That which is boiled, a boiling preparation.
| 1755 Phil. Trans. XLIX. 159, I put the linen..into a boil of soap. |
4. U.S. (See quots.)
| 1805 Clark in Lewis & Clark Exped. (1905) III. 151 In those narrows the water was agitated in..boils, swells, & whorlpools. 1853 Putnam's Monthly Aug. 188/2 These ‘boils’, as the boatmen call them, are immense upheavings of the moving waters [of the Mississippi]. 1883 ‘Mark Twain’ Life Mississippi ix. 120 Those tumbling ‘boils’ show a dissolving bar and a changing channel there. |
5. Angling. A sudden bold rise of a fish at a fly. (Cf. boil v. 11.)
| 1893 Field 17 June 894/3 A fish had made a boil at my fly. 1894 Daily News 22 Aug. 5/1 The only hopeful sign is when salmon now and then break the surface of the water with a ‘boil’, a movement like the rise of a trout. |
▪ III. boil, v.
(bɔɪl)
Forms: 3–4 boille, boili, boile(n, 4–7 boyle, 5–6 boyll, 6–7 boyl, 7 boile, 6– boil. Also 4 buyle, ? bayl, ? bele, 5 bule, bulle, bylle, byle, 5–6 boll, 6 Sc. bull.
[ME. boille-n, boile-n, a. OF. boill-ir (boill-ant), mod.F. bouillir:—L. bullī-re to form bubbles, to boil.]
1. intr. a. Of a liquid: To bubble up in agitation through the action of heat causing the lowest portions of the liquid to pass into the gaseous form and escape; to roll about under the influence of heat; also said of the vessel containing the liquid. Also with up and fig.
| 1612 W. Strachey Travaile into Virginia (1849) II. 184/2 To boyle up, potopotawh tawh. 1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery ix. 94 Let it boil up till it is thorough hot. 1818 W. Tucker Fam. Dyer & Scourer (ed. 2) 61 When this has boiled up, cool down your copper. 1871 L. W. M. Lockhart Fair to See (1872) II. xiii. 62 Just as things were boiling up very satisfactorily to a climax, in came Mrs M'Killop..and cleared them off. Ibid. III. xxxv. 150 All this time Mrs M'Killop..had been bridling and boiling up on her sofa, waiting for recognition. |
b. To reach the boiling point, to turn from the liquid into the gaseous state. to boil over: to bubble up so as to run over the side of the vessel; also said of the vessel. Cf. run over, overflow, etc.
| a 1225 Juliana 172 Þis maide isei þis led boili. a 1225 St. Marg. 247 He let hete water oð seoþinge{revsc} & þo hit boillede faste. a 1300 Cursor M. 11886 Þai fild a lede o pik and oyle, And fast þai did it for to boile. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 32 Which hath ever his pottes hote Of love boilend on the fire. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 43 Boylyn ouyr, as pottys on þe fyre, ebullio. 1611 Bible Isa. lxiv. 2 The fire causeth the waters to boyle. 1813 Domestic Cookery 249 Room (for the liquor) to boil as quick as possible, without boiling over. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. §24. 356 Water deprived of its air will not boil at 212° Fahr. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 53 Putting in anything that we like while the pot is boiling. |
2. transf. a. To move with an agitation like that of boiling water; to bubble, to seethe. Also said of that from which something gushes tumultuously: To overflow with.
| c 1300 K. Alis. 2464 Me myghte y-seo..Heorten blede, braynes boyle. 1382 Wyclif Job xli. 22 He shal make the depthe of the se to boilen as a pot. ― 2 Macc. ix. 9 Wormes buyliden out of the body of the vnpyteous man. 1388 ― Ex. xvi. 20 It bigan to buyle with wormes, and it was rotun. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 291 b, Myghty newe wyne..boyleth upward, as though it wolde brast the vessell. 1616 R. C. Times' Whis. v. 2061 When the poyson boylde In every veine. 1670 Cotton Espernon ii. vi. 253 His blood boiling in great quantities out of his mouth. 1725 Pope Odyss. iii. 357 The storm thickens, and the billows boil. 1820 Southey Lodore 93 Recoiling, turmoiling and toiling and boiling. |
b. To undulate like a boiling fluid.
| 1882 Observatory V. 355 The Sun's limb was boiling all about it. |
3. fig. a. Said of passions, persons under the influence of passion, their words, etc. Also to boil over. Cf. the blood boils in 10 b.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶272 The brennyng of lecchery boylid in al his body. 1393 Gower Conf. I. 294 So boilen up the foule sawes. 1548 Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Luke xii. 58 Whan his herte thus boiled. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 499 The people..boiled with anger. 1625 N. R. tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. i. (1635) 88 O'Neal..boyled in hatred against the English. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 16 His dire attempt, which nigh the birth Now rowling, boiles in his tumultuous brest. 1761–2 Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) IV. li. 60 Resentment was boiling in his sullen, unsociable mind. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 55 He cannot chafe or boil or get into a state of righteous indignation. 1879 Froude Cæsar xvii. 288 The political frenzy was now boiling over. |
b. trans. to boil forth: to give forth in a boiling or agitated manner.
| 1609 Bible (Douay) Prov. xv. 2 The mouth of fooles boyleth forth follie. |
4. a. trans. To cause (a liquid) to bubble with heat (see sense 1); to bring to the boiling point: esp. said of food, wholly or partly liquid, in the process of cooking; also of the containing vessel.
| c 1420 Liber Cocorum 11 Boyle hit and sture lest hit brenne. a 1500 E.E. Misc. (1855) 34 Sume byllyd mettayl. 1692 Lond. Gaz. No. 2800/4 The Copper boyls betwixt 15 and 16 Hogsheads at a time. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. ix, As kind housewives..were boiling their husbands' kettles. |
b. intr. (for refl.) Cf. to eat, cut, etc.
| 1845 E. Acton Cookery xxi. (1852) 493 The fruit should be finely flavoured, and..should boil easily. |
c. to boil up: absol. to boil or wash clothes. U.S. and N.Z. colloq. Also (Canad. and N.Z.), to make tea. Also to boil the billy, to make tea (Austral. and N.Z. colloq.).
| 1839, 1881 [see billy3 1]. 1891 [see damper 6]. 1902 B. Baynton in Murdoch & Drake-Brockman Austral. Short Stories (1951) 42 Blest if I evven fergot t' bile th' billy. 1911 W. H. Koebel In Maoriland Bush x. 150 When you boil the ‘billy’, you make tea, voila tout. 1929 Amer. Speech IV. 338 Boil up, to wash your clothes. 1933 E. Merrick True North 30 At three we boiled up again. 1947 P. Newton Wayleggo (1949) iii. 34 Musterers..carry billies..and ‘boil-up’..when circumstances permit. |
† 5. fig. To agitate and inflame, to make fervent (persons or their feelings). Obs.
| 1648 Eikon Basilike 115 Let no fire of affliction boil over my passion to any impatience. a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal 237 Wrath boils thy breast! a 1704 T. Brown Dk. Ormond's Recov. Wks. I. 49 What lust of power, or what nefarious charms, Ferment your blood, or boil you into arms? |
6. To act upon (anything) by continued immersion in boiling liquid; to subject to heat in boiling water. a. To cook (solid articles) in this way; b. To cleanse (clothes, etc.) by immersion in boiling water; c. To prepare, make, or produce by boiling. d. To put to death by boiling.
| c 1325 Coer de L. 2831 In watyr we baylyd the blood. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 383 A Cook they hadde..To boille the chiknes with the Marybones..He koude rooste and sethe and boille and frye. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (1852) 45 The x. day of March was a mayde boyllyd in Smythfelde for poysynyng of dyvers persons. 1611 Bible Ezek. xlvi. 20 The place where the Priests shall boyle the trespasse offring. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 107 He is..a Kid..boyled in his Mothers milk. 1696 Lond. Gaz. No. 3145/4 A silver-hilted Sword..was lately Boiled, and the Handle gilt. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 380 Some steep their Seed, and some in Cauldrons boil. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 232 The important improvement of boiling sugar in vacuo. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 51 Martyrs..were stoned, or crucified, Or burn'd in fire, or boiled in oil. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. i, Modes of making fire and boiling food. |
7. intr. To undergo the action produced by immersion in boiling liquid.
| 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. i. lvii, Boyling in sulphur, and hot-bubbling pitch. 1813 Dom. Cookery viii. 185 Set it [rice] to boil in milk. |
8. to boil away (intr.): to evaporate in boiling. to boil down: to lessen the bulk of (anything)by boiling; fig. to condense, epitomize.
| 1845 E. Acton Mod. Cookery xxi. (1852) 464 For jams and jellies it [fruit] cannot be too soon boiled down. 1880 Sat. Rev. No. 1288. 28 It is surprising to see how much research Mr. S. has sometimes contrived to boil down into a single line. |
† 9. slang. To betray. Obs.
| 1602 Rowlands Greene's Cony-catchers 16 His cloyer or follower forthwith boyles him, that is, bewrayes him. 1611 Middleton & Dekker Roar. Girle Wks. 1873 III. 220 Wee are smoakt..Wee are boyl'd, pox on her! |
10. Phrases. a. to boil the pot: to supply one's livelihood. So to keep the pot boiling: also = to keep anything going. Cf. pot.
| 1808 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Peep at R. Acad. Wks. 1812 V. 352, I think this Piece will help to boil the pot. 1837 Marryat Dog-Fiend ix, Huzza, my lads! we'll keep the pot boiling. |
b. the blood boils: phrase expressing strong emotion, esp. of anger or indignation.
| 1675 Otway Alcibiades 38, I am impatient, and my blood boyls high. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 230 The thought of such intervention made the blood, even of the Cavaliers, boil in their veins. 1859 Jephson Brittany xv. 248 A sight which made his blood boil. |
11. Angling. Of a fish: to rise boldly at a fly.
| 1898 J. A. Gibbs Cotswold Village viii. 164, I see one [sc. a trout] boil up just above that mess of weed. |