boiling

That boils or boil.

Adjective

  1. That boils or boil.
    • boiling kettle boiling oil
  2. Of a thing: extremely hot or active.
    • The radiator is boiling – I’m going to turn it down a bit.
    • With a little manœuvring they contrived to meet on the doorstep which now, in mid-morning, was in a boiling stream of passers-by, hurrying business people speeding past in a flurry of fumes and dust in the bright haze....
    • As I collected some individuals from a nest, an alarm was sent and a boiling mass of ants issued from the colony. - 2016, Justin O. Schmidt, The Sting of the Wild, Johns Hopkins University Press,, →ISBN, page 37:
  3. Of a person: feeling uncomfortably hot.
    • I’m boiling – can’t we open a window?

    Synonyms: steaming cooking baking frying

  4. Of the weather: very hot.
    • It’s boiling out today!

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *bew-der.? Proto-Indo-European *bʰel-der.? Latin bulla Proto-Indo-European *-yétider. Latin -iō Latin bulliō Old French boillirbor. Middle English boillen English boil English -ing English boiling From boil + -ing.

Forms

more boiling most boiling

Derived

boiling frog boiling hot boilingly boiling mad nonboiling

Adverb

  1. Extremely
    • He was boiling mad.

Noun

  1. The process of changing the state of a substance from liquid to gas by heating it to its boiling point.

    Antonyms: freezing

    Coordinate Terms: evaporating sublimating superheating

  2. The cooking (of food) or cleaning (of an object) by immersing it in liquid (usually water) that is boiling.

    Coordinate Terms: steaming sautéing broiling frying baking

  3. A turmoil; a disturbance like that of bubbling water.
  4. An animation style with constantly changing wavy outlines, giving a shimmering or wobbling appearance.

Forms

boilings

Derived

boiling-house global boiling whole boiling

Verb

  1. present participle and gerund of boil