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PlainSpell

boil

/bɔɪ(ə)l/noun, verb

boil is spelled B-O-I-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, boil means “A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of boil is boils.

How many letters and syllables are in boil?

Letters4: B-O-I-L
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is boil?

Boil appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce boil?

  • US /bɔɪ(ə)l/

Boil has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-boil.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with boil?

5 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as boil from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɪl/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: biol, boli.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of boil

  • boils plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • boyl
  • boyle
  • boiling participle, present
  • boiled participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does boil mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A localized accumulation of pus in the skin, resulting from infection.

  2. 2

    The point at which fluid begins to change to a vapour; the boiling point.

    Add the noodles when the water comes to the boil.

  3. 3

    An instance of boiling.

    Surface water will do, but give it a good boil before drinking it.

  4. 4

    A dish of boiled food, especially seafood.

    a down-home boil with plenty of crab

  5. 5

    USA social event at which people gather to boil and eat food, especially seafood. (Compare a bake or clambake.)

    a down-home boil at the town hall

  6. 6

    nonstandardrareA group of hawks.

  7. 7

    archaicA bubbling.

verb

  1. 1

    To heat to the point where it begins to turn into a gas.

    Boil some water in a pan.

  2. 2

    To cook in boiling water.

    Boil the eggs for three minutes.

  3. 3

    To begin to turn into a gas, seethe.

    Pure water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

  4. 4

    UKinformalTo bring to a boil, to heat so as to cause the contents to boil.

  5. 5

    informalTo be uncomfortably hot.

    It’s boiling outside!

  6. 6

    informalTo feel uncomfortably hot.

    I’m boiling in here – could you open the window?

  7. 7

    To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation.

    to boil sugar or salt

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo steep or soak in warm water.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Boil in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchfuroncle (accumulation of pus), bouillir (point at which fluid begins to change to a…), faire bouillir, porter à ébullition ((transitive) heat (a liquid) until it begins to…)
GermanFurunkel, Eiterbeule (accumulation of pus), Sieden, Wallung, Gebrodel (point at which fluid begins to change to a…), sieden ((transitive) heat (a liquid) until it begins to…)
Portugueseabcesso, furúnculo, pústula, carbúnculo, cisto, íngua (accumulation of pus)
Spanishfurúnculo, forúnculo, divieso (accumulation of pus), hervor (point at which fluid begins to change to a…), hervir, herver ((transitive) heat (a liquid) until it begins to…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does boil come from?

From Middle English bile, büle (“boil, tumor”), from Old English bȳl, bȳle (“boil, swelling”), from Proto-Germanic *būlijō, *būlō (“boil”). Akin to Dutch buil (“boil, swelling”), German Beule (“boil, hump”), Icelandic beyla (“swelling, hump”). The expected form is bile; the rounding of the diphthong could be caused by the initial b- and/or by association with etymology 2.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after boil