Boil vs. Cook — What's the Difference?

A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, infection of the hair follicle. It is most commonly caused by infection by the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by an accumulation of pus and dead tissue.

To prepare (food) for eating by applying heat.

(with reference to a liquid) reach or cause to reach the temperature at which it bubbles and turns to vapour

To prepare or treat by heating

(with reference to food) cook or be cooked by immersing in boiling water or stock

(Slang) To alter or falsify so as to make a more favorable impression; doctor

(of the sea or clouds) be turbulent and stormy

To prepare food for eating by applying heat.

The temperature at which a liquid bubbles and turns to vapour

To undergo application of heat especially for the purpose of later ingestion.

A casual outdoor meal at which shellfish is prepared by boiling

(Slang) To happen, develop, or take place

An inflamed pus-filled swelling on the skin, caused typically by the infection of a hair follicle.

(Slang) To proceed or perform very well

To change from a liquid to a vapor by the application of heat

A person who prepares food for eating.

To reach the boiling point.

(cooking) A person who prepares food.

To undergo the action of boiling, especially in being cooked.

(cooking) The head cook of a manor house.

To be in a state of agitation; seethe

(cooking) The degree or quality of cookedness of food.

To be stirred up or greatly excited, especially in anger

(slang) One who manufactures certain illegal drugs, especially meth.

To vaporize (a liquid) by the application of heat.

(slang) A session of manufacturing certain illegal drugs, especially meth.

To heat to the boiling point.

A fish, the European striped wrasse, Labrus mixtus.

To cook or clean by boiling.

To prepare food for eating by heating it, often combining with other ingredients.

To separate by evaporation in the process of boiling

(intransitive) To be cooked.

The condition or act of boiling.

To be uncomfortably hot.

Lower Southern US A picnic featuring shrimp, crab, or crayfish boiled in large pots with spices, and then shelled and eaten by hand.

(slang) To execute by electric chair.

An agitated, swirling, roiling mass of liquid

To hold on to a grenade briefly after igniting the fuse, so that it explodes almost immediately after being thrown.

A painful, circumscribed pus-filled inflammation of the skin and subcutaneous tissue usually caused by a local staphylococcal infection. Also called furuncle.

To concoct or prepare.

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

To tamper with or alter; to cook up.

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

To play or improvise in an inspired and rhythmically exciting way. (From 1930s jive talk.)

A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood.

To play music vigorously.

The collective noun for a group of hawks.

To make the noise of the cuckoo.

A bubbling.

To throw.

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

To make the noise of the cuckoo.

(ambitransitive) To cook in boiling water.

To throw.

To begin to turn into a gas, seethe.

To prepare, as food, by boiling, roasting, baking, broiling, etc.; to make suitable for eating, by the agency of fire or heat.

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

To concoct or prepare; hence, to tamper with or alter; to garble; - often with up; as, to cook up a story; to cook an account.

To be uncomfortably hot.

To prepare food for the table.

To feel uncomfortably hot.

One whose occupation is to prepare food for the table; one who dresses or cooks meat or vegetables for eating.

(transitive) To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation.

A fish, the European striped wrasse.

(obsolete) To steep or soak in warm water.

Someone who cooks food

To be agitated like boiling water; to bubble; to effervesce.

English navigator who claimed the east coast of Australia for Britain and discovered several Pacific islands (1728-1779)

To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid.

Prepare a hot meal;

To be agitated, or tumultuously moved, as a liquid by the generation and rising of bubbles of steam (or vapor), or of currents produced by heating it to the boiling point; to be in a state of ebullition; as, the water boils.

Prepare for eating by applying heat;

To be agitated like boiling water, by any other cause than heat; to bubble; to effervesce; as, the boiling waves.

Transform and make suitable for consumption by heating;

To pass from a liquid to an aëriform state or vapor when heated; as, the water boils away.

Transform by heating;

To be moved or excited with passion; to be hot or fervid; as, his blood boils with anger.

Fake or falsify;

To be in boiling water, as in cooking; as, the potatoes are boiling.

To heat to the boiling point, or so as to cause ebullition; as, to boil water.

To form, or separate, by boiling or evaporation; as, to boil sugar or salt.

To subject to the action of heat in a boiling liquid so as to produce some specific effect, as cooking, cleansing, etc.; as, to boil meat; to boil clothes.

To steep or soak in warm water.

Act or state of boiling.

A hard, painful, inflamed tumor, which, on suppuration, discharges pus, mixed with blood, and discloses a small fibrous mass of dead tissue, called the core.

A painful sore with a hard pus-filled core

The temperature at which a liquid boils at sea level;

Come to the boiling point and change from a liquid to vapor;

Cook in boiling liquid;

Bring to, or maintain at, the boiling point;

Be agitated;

Be in an agitated emotional state;