overboil

O1V4E1R1B3O1I1L1

verb

To boil excessively.

“If you overboil an egg, you'll end up with a hardboiled egg instead of the softboiled egg that you wanted; and if you underboil an egg, you'll end up with a softboiled egg instead of the hardboiled egg that you wanted.”

Similar
boil over
Opposite
underboil
OriginEnglish boil ← Middle English boillen ← Old French boillir →
Scrabble 13
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Meanings

verboverboil (third-person singular simple present overboils, present participle overboiling, simple past and past participle overboiled)

present singular third person overboils · participle present overboiling · participle past overboiled · past overboiled

  1. ambitransitiveTo boil excessively.

    If you overboil an egg, you'll end up with a hardboiled egg instead of the softboiled egg that you wanted; and if you underboil an egg, you'll end up with a softboiled egg instead of the hardboiled egg that you wanted.

    Antonyms: underboil

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo boil excessively.

Opposite
underboil

More synonyms by meaning

verboverflow or cause to overflow while boiling

Similar
boil over
Broader
boil
Also see
boil over

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Germanic*uber
  4. Old Englishofer-
  5. Middle Englishover-
  6. Englishover-
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bew-der.?
  8. Proto-Indo-European*bʰel-der.?
  9. Latinbulla
  10. Latinbulliō
  11. Old Frenchboillir
  12. Middle Englishboillen
  13. Englishboil
  14. Englishoverboil

From over- + boil.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

boilover
Cite this entry
APA

overboil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overboil

MLA

“overboil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overboil. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “overboil,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/overboil.

Source: overboil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.