verb · informal
boil
/bɔɪl/BOIL
Band 4-5speakingtask2
to heat a liquid until bubbles rise and it reaches a high temperature; to cook food in boiling water
Examples
“Boil the water before adding the pasta.”
“She boiled the eggs for seven minutes.”
“When the soup starts to boil, reduce the heat.”
Band 8 sentence
“After bringing the stock to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer to develop the flavour.”
Collocations
- boil water
- boil an egg
- bring to a boil
Word family
boil verbboiling adjective / noun
Common mistakes
Boil the water until it boiling.→Boil the water until it boils.
Please boiled the eggs for me.→Please boil the eggs for me.
Say it for a higher band
5cook→6simmer→7+boil
Synonyms
simmer
Easily confused
simmer
“Let the sauce simmer gently for about twenty minutes.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Food & Cooking
Learn it with its set