boil

Meaning

Noun

A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.

Verb

1. To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
2. To cook in boiling water.
3. To begin to turn into a gas, seethe.
4. (informal) To bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil.
5. (informal) To be uncomfortably hot.
6. (informal) To feel uncomfortably hot.
7. To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation.
8. (obsolete) To steep or soak in warm water.
9. To be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce.
10. To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɔɪl/

Etymology

From Middle English bile, büle (“boil, tumor”), from Old English bȳl, bȳle (“boil, swelling”), from Proto-Germanic *būlijō, *būlō (“boil”).
Akin to Dutch buil (“boil, swelling”), German Beule (“boil, hump”), Icelandic beyla (“swelling, hump”). The expected form is bile; the rounding of the diphthong could be caused by the initial b- and/or by association with etymology 2.