boiling

Syllables: boil·ingUK/ˈbɔɪlɪŋ/

boiling is the present participle and gerund of boil.

Noun

boiling (countable and uncountable, plural boilings)

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

Antonyms:

freezing
The cooking (of food) or cleaning (of an object) by immersing it in liquid (usually water) that is boiling.
(countable, figuratively) A turmoil; a disturbance like that of bubbling water.
(figuratively, uncountable) An animation style with constantly changing wavy outlines, giving a shimmering or wobbling appearance.

Adjective

boiling (comparative more boiling, superlative most boiling)

That boils or boil.
- boiling kettle boiling oil
(excessive, informal) 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.1963, Margery Allingham, “Conference in the Morning”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 130
(excessive, informal) Of a person: feeling uncomfortably hot.
- I’m boiling – can’t we open a window?
Synonyms:

steaming, cooking, baking, frying
(excessive, informal) Of the weather: very hot.
- It’s boiling out today!

Meaning of boil

Verb

boil (third-person singular simple present boils, present participle boiling, simple past and past participle boiled or (nonstandard, regional) boilt)

(transitive) To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.
- Boil some water in a pan.
Synonyms:

seethe, well, plaw, cook, do

Antonyms:

condense
(ambitransitive) To cook in boiling water.
- Boil the eggs for three minutes.
(intransitive) To begin to turn into a gas, seethe.
- Pure water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
(New Zealand, UK, informal, transitive) To bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil.
- 'I'll boil the kettle,' he said.1991 September, Stephen Fry, chapter 1, in The Liar, London: Heinemann, →ISBN, section I, page 14
(informal, intransitive) To be uncomfortably hot.
- It’s boiling outside!
Synonyms:

bake, scorch, swelter

Antonyms:

freeze
(informal, intransitive) To feel uncomfortably hot.
- I’m boiling in here – could you open the window?
Synonyms:

seethe, bake, stew

Antonyms:

freeze

See all 17 meanings of boil

Adverb

boiling (not comparable)

Extremely
- He was boiling mad.

Synonyms of boiling

Antonyms

freezing

Forms of boiling

Noun
plural	boilings
Adjective
comparative	more boiling
superlative	most boiling

Origin of boiling

From boil + -ing.

Words formed from boiling

Phrases with boiling

9 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with boiling

Questions about boiling

What does boiling mean?: Boiling means the process of changing the state of a substance from liquid to gas by heating it to its boiling point.
What is boiling the present participle and gerund of?: Boiling is the present participle and gerund of boil.
What part of speech is boiling?: Boiling can be a noun, an adjective or an adverb.
How do you pronounce boiling?: Boiling is pronounced /ˈbɔɪlɪŋ/ (UK).
What is the plural of boiling?: The plural of boiling is boilings.

Words near boiling in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: boiling (page history and authors); boil (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-boiling.ogg.

Cite this entry: “boiling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/boiling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.