go off the boil

Verb

go off the boil (third-person singular simple present goes off the boil, present participle going off the boil, simple past went off the boil, past participle gone off the boil)

1. (Australia, UK) To cease to boil when heat is no longer applied.
   • All puddings must be boiled in plenty of water, turned frequently, kept closely covered, and never allowed to go off the boil.1891, Nelson A. Dunning, editor, The Farmers' Alliance History and Agricultural Digest
   • That is the reason for the coin. You will be able to hear it dancing about, and it will tell you if the water goes off the boil or is getting dangerously low.1972, Diana Kennedy, Craig Claibourne, The Cuisines of Mexico
2. (Australia, UK, idiomatic) To lose interest; to pall.
   • As one of the rearguard put it, "We laid up until the Hun had gone off the boil a bit and slipped out the following night."1955, John Baker White, The Big Lie
   • But John, not surprisingly, has gone off the boil, and feels nothing for Annette so strongly as an intense weariness and desire to be rid of her.1987, Rosalind Miles, The Female Form: Women Writers and the Conquest of the Novel
3. (Australia, UK, idiomatic) To diminish in intensity or urgency.
4. (Australia, UK, idiomatic) To become less successful.