boil

1. (v) (transitive, of liquids) To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas. 2. (v) (ambitransitive) To cook in boiling water. 3. (v) (intransitive, of liquids) To begin to turn into a gas, seethe. 4. (n) The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour; the boiling point. 5. (n) An instance of boiling. 6. (n) (US) A social event at which people gather to boil and eat food, especially seafood. (Compare a bake or clambake.) 7. (n) A dish of boiled food, especially seafood. 8. (v) (intransitive, of liquids) To be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce. 9. (v) (transitive) To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation. 10. (v) (intransitive, informal, used only in progressive tenses, of weather) To be uncomfortably hot. 11. (v) (intransitive, informal, used only in progressive tenses) To feel uncomfortably hot. 12. (v) (transitive, UK, informal) To bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil. 13. (v) To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid. 14. (n) A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection. 15. (n) (archaic) A bubbling. 16. (n) (rare, nonstandard) The collective noun for a group of hawks. 17. (v) (obsolete) To steep or soak in warm water.