Boil vs. Stew — 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.

A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and may include meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef, poultry, sausages, and seafood.

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

To cook (food) by simmering or boiling slowly.

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

To undergo cooking by boiling slowly or simmering.

(of the sea or clouds) be turbulent and stormy

(Informal) To suffer with oppressive heat or stuffy confinement; swelter.

The temperature at which a liquid bubbles and turns to vapour

(Informal) To be in a state of anxiety or agitation.

A casual outdoor meal at which shellfish is prepared by boiling

(obsolete) A cooking-dish used for boiling; a cauldron.

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

A heated bath-room or steam-room; also, a hot bath.

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

(archaic) A brothel.

To reach the boiling point.

(obsolete) A prostitute.

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

A dish cooked by stewing.

To be in a state of agitation; seethe

(Sussex) A pool in which fish are kept in preparation for eating.

To be stirred up or greatly excited, especially in anger

An artificial bed of oysters.

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

(slang) A state of agitated excitement, worry, and/or confusion.

To heat to the boiling point.

(informal) A steward or stewardess on an airplane or boat.

To cook or clean by boiling.

To cook (food) by slowly boiling or simmering.

To separate by evaporation in the process of boiling

(transitive) To brew (tea) for too long, so that the flavour becomes too strong.

The condition or act of boiling.

To suffer under uncomfortably hot conditions.

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

To be in a state of elevated anxiety or anger.

An agitated, swirling, roiling mass of liquid

A small pond or pool where fish are kept for the table; a vivarium.

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

An artificial bed of oysters.

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

A place of stewing or seething; a place where hot bathes are furnished; a hothouse.

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

A brothel; - usually in the plural.

A dish of boiled food, especially based on seafood.

A prostitute.

The collective noun for a group of hawks.

A dish prepared by stewing; as, a stewof pigeons.

A bubbling.

A state of agitating excitement; a state of worry; confusion; as, to be in a stew.

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

To boil slowly, or with the simmering or moderate heat; to seethe; to cook in a little liquid, over a gentle fire, without boiling; as, to stew meat; to stew oysters; to stew apples.

(ambitransitive) To cook in boiling water.

To be seethed or cooked in a slow, gentle manner, or in heat and moisture.

To begin to turn into a gas, seethe.

Agitation resulting from active worry;

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

Food prepared by stewing especially meat or fish with vegetables

To be uncomfortably hot.

Be in a huff; be silent or sullen

To feel uncomfortably hot.

Bear a grudge; harbor ill feelings

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

Cook slowly and for a long time in liquid;

(obsolete) To steep or soak in warm water.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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;