seethe
UK/siːð//sið/
seethe verb: of a liquid or other substance, or a container holding it: to be boiled (vigorously); to become boiling hot.
Verb
seethe (third-person singular simple present seethes, present participle seething, simple past and past participle seethed)
- Of a liquid or other substance, or a container holding it: to be boiled (vigorously); to become boiling hot.
- [W]hen a pot ſeetheth, if we lade it and moove the liquor up and down, even while it ſeetheth, we ſhall make it quiet.1597, Don Richardo de Medico Campo [pseudonym; Richard Lichfield], The Trimming of Thomas Nashe Gentleman, London: […] [Edward Allde] for Philip Scarlet, →OCLC; republished as J[ohn] P[ayne]...
- Deep Hell! that seethest in thy simmering pit; / Thy thousand throned horrors shall not vie, / Or ever compass it!1887, Madison J[ulius] Cawein, “Aspiration”, in Blooms of the Berry, Lewisville, Ky.: John P. Morton and Company, […], →OCLC, page 17
- Of a liquid, vapor, etc., or a container holding it: to foam or froth in an agitated manner, as if boiling.
- My bowels ſeeth wͪ in me ⁊ take no reſt, for yͤ dayes of my trouble are come vpõ me.1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Job xxx:[27], folio...
- I obſerue our Ducheſſe / Is ſicke a dayes, ſhe puykes, her ſtomacke ſeethes, […]1612–1613 (date written), John Webster, The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy. […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, for Iohn Waterson, […], published 1623, →OCLC, Act II, scene i, signature D2, recto
- Synonyms:
- bubble
- Of a person: to be in an agitated or angry mental state, often in a way that is not obvious to others.
- I vvill make a complementall aſſault vpon him for my buſineſſe ſeeth's.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609...
- [F]or them alone did seethe / A thousand men in troubles wide and dark: […]1820, John Keats, “Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil. A Story from Boccaccio.”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC...
- Synonyms:
- broil
- Of a place: to be filled with many people or things moving about actively; to buzz with activity; also, of people or things: to move about actively in a crowd or group.
- Shock Box was the skankiest bar in Hasted, complete with a cheesy jukebox, cheap pints, and a sweaty club in the basement that seethed every weekend with a superhorny boarding-school crowd.2011 February, Kate Kingsley, chapter 30, in Kiss & Break Up (Young, Loaded, and Fabulous), New York, N.Y.: Simon Pulse, Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 201
- Of a place: to have inhabitants in an angry or disaffected mood; to be in a state of unrest.
- "All the north is seething," said Gerard. "We must contrive to agitate the metropolis," said Maclast, a shrewd carroty-haired paper-stainer.1845, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter VIII, in Sybil; or The Two Nations. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, book V, page 101
- To overboil (something) so that it loses its flavour or texture; hence (figurative), to cause (the body, the mind, the spirit, etc.) to become dull through too much alcoholic drink or heat.
- Yee come t'encounter vvith a valiant Foe; / […] ſuch as ſhrinke not / To haue their bloods ſod vvith the dog-dayes heate, / Nor to be crudled vvith cold Saturnes Rod: […]c. 1592 (date written), Thomas Heywood, The Foure Prentises of London, […], revised edition, London: […] Nicholas Okes, published 1632, →OCLC, signature K, recto
- [F]oorthvvith her eyes bred her eye-ſore, the firſt vvhite vvhereon their tranſpiercing arrovves ſtuck, being the breathleſſe corps of Leander: vvith the ſodaine contemplation of this piteous ſpectacle of her loue, ſodden to haddocks meate, her ſorrovve could not chooſe but be indefinite, […]1599, [Thomas] Nashe, Nashes Lenten Stuffe, […], London: […] [Thomas Judson and Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and C[uthbert] B[urby] […], →OCLC, page 45
- To soak (something) in a liquid; to drench, to steep.
- To boil (something); especially, to cook (food) by boiling or stewing; also, to keep (something) boiling.
- Iacob ſod potage ⁊ Eſau came from the feld ⁊ was faine […]1530 January 27 (Gregorian calendar), W[illiam] T[yndale], transl., [The Pentateuch] (Tyndale Bible), Malborow [Marburg], Hesse: […] Hans Luft [actually Antwerp: Johan Hoochstraten], →OCLC, Genesis...
- When we had paſſed againe the line, and were come to the third degree, or ſomewhat more, we ſawe crabs ſwimming on the water that were red as though they had bene ſodden, but this was no signe of land.1579 November 19 (Gregorian calendar), Thomas Stevens, “A Letter Written from Goa, the Principall Citie of All the East Indies, by One Thomas Steuens an Englishman, and Sent to His Father, M. Thomas...
- Of the stomach: to digest (food).
- Elixation is the ſeething of meat in the ſtomack, by the ſaid naturall heat, as meat is boyled in a pot; […]1638, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Of the Soule and Her Faculties”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy. […], 5th edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [Robert Young, Miles Flesher, and...
Noun
seethe (countable and uncountable, plural seethes)
seethe meaning in Tamil, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
seethe in Tamil
- கொதித்துக் குமுறு, வெந்து குழைவுறு, கொதிக்கவை
seethe in Marathi
- of a person: to be in an agitated or angry mental state
- खवळण khavḷaṇ
seethe in Urdu
- seethe
- ابال کر پکانا ubāl kar pakāna
seethe in Bengali
- ফুটতে থাকা, ক্ষোভে ফুটে ওঠা
More languagesFewer languages
- seethe in Malayalam
- തിളയ്ക്കുകയാണന്നതുപോലെ നുരയുക, പുഴുങ്ങുക, പ്രക്ഷുബ്ധമാകുക
- seethe in Kannada
- ಬಹಳ ಸಿಟ್ಟಾಗು, ಉದ್ರೇಕಗೊಳ್ಳು, ತಳಮಳಿಸು, ತಹತಹಿಸು
- seethe in Sanskrit
- श्रायति śrāyati
- seethe in Arabic
- هَاجَ hāja, غَلَى ḡalā, فَارَ fāra
Examples of seethe in a sentence
- I saw all shapes of death / And ministered to many, o'er the plain / While carnage in the sun-beam's warmth did seethe, / Till twilight o'er the east wove her serenest wreath.1817 December (indicated as 1818), Percy B[ysshe] Shelley, “Canto Sixth”, in Laon and Cythna; or, The Revolution of the Golden City: A...
- "He seetheth like a steaming cauldron," answered the servant; "and Bauldie, the lad, walketh him about the yard with a halter, lest he take cold."1824 June, [Walter Scott], “Letter VII. The Same to the Same. [Darsie Latimer to Alan Fairford; in Continuation.]”, in Redgauntlet, […]...
- She lay and seethed in fever many weeks, / But youth was strong and overcame the test; / Revolted soul and flesh were reconciled / And fetched back to the necessary day / And daylight duties.1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Third Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC, page 129:
- Seethe some of that in Gar Vindisc's good water and bring it to us.2010, James Enge, Travellers’ Rest, Amherst, N.Y.: Pyr Books, →ISBN:
Synonyms of seethe
Forms of seethe
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | seethes |
| present participle | seething |
| past participle | seethed |
| past | seethed |
| alternative form | seeth |
| first-person singular past (archaic) | sod |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | seethest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | seethedst |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | sod |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | seetheth |
| third-person singular past (archaic) | sod |
| plural past (archaic) | sod |
| past subjunctive (archaic) | sod |
| past participle (archaic) | sodden |
| Noun | |
| plural | seethes |
Origin of seethe
The verb is derived from Middle English sethen, seeth (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”) [and other forms], from Old English sēoþan (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuþan, from Proto-Germanic *seuþaną (“to boil, seethe”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂sewt-, *h₂sew-, *h₂sut- (“to move about, roil, seethe”). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Danish syde (“to seethe, boil”) * Dutch zieden (“to boil, seethe”) * German sieden (“to boil, seethe”) * Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (sauþs, “burnt offering, sacrifice”) * Icelandic sjóða (“to boil, seethe”) * Low German seden (“to seethe”) * Norwegian Bokmål syde (“to boil, seethe”) * Norwegian Nynorsk sjoda, syda (“to boil, seethe”) * Scots seth, seith (“to seethe”) * Swedish sjuda (“to boil, seethe”) * West Frisian siede (“to boil”)
Words formed from seethe
Words that rhyme with seethe
Questions about seethe
- What does seethe mean?
- Seethe means of a liquid or other substance, or a container holding it: to be boiled (vigorously); to become boiling hot.
- What is seethe in Tamil?
- Seethe in Tamil is கொதித்துக் குமுறு, வெந்து குழைவுறு, கொதிக்கவை. See Seethe meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use seethe in a sentence?
- I saw all shapes of death / And ministered to many, o'er the plain / While carnage in the sun-beam's warmth did seethe, / Till twilight o'er the east wove her serenest wreath.
- What part of speech is seethe?
- Seethe can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce seethe?
- Seethe is pronounced /siːð/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of seethe?
- The past tense of seethe is seethed.
Words near seethe in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: seethe (page history and authors); seethe (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ابال کر پکانا (Urdu) (page history and authors); seethe (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); seethe (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); seethe (Kannada Wiktionary) (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:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-seethe.ogg.
Cite this entry: “seethe.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/seethe. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.