aboiladv.adj.
/əˈbɔɪl/, U.S. /əˈbɔɪl/ A. adv.
Chiefly Scottish. In or into a boiling state; at boiling point. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > action of boiling > [adverb] > in or into a boiling state
aboil1774
1774 S. MacIver Cookery & Pastry iii. 47 Be sure never to let any thing come a-boil that eggs are in, else it will curdle the sauce.
1810 G. Robertson Agric. Surv. Kincardine (1813) 432 This..by the time it comes a-boil, is transformed into a coagulation or jelly.
1835 J. D. Carrick Laird of Logan I. 85 The materials had not got fairly a-boil.
1858 H. Miller My Schools & Schoolmasters (new ed.) vi. 127 Scenes of cruelty and spoliation of which the recollection..had still power enough to set his Scotch blood aboil.
1911 J. M. Barrie Peter & Wendy vii. 114 Even if there was no pot, she had to keep watching that it came aboil just the same.
1940 K. Roberts Oliver Wiswell i. iii. 31 I was already in a state of irritation, but Mr. Leighton's reference to constitutional lawyers set my inwards aboil.
2004 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 13 Dec. 6 c McCardell declined all interview requests leading to the game, hoping not to set the bad blood aboil.
B. adj.
In predicative use. Boiling, seething. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > action of boiling > [adjective]
wallingc1000
welling?a1200
seethinga1300
boilingc1320
playing1440
ebullient1599
bullient1682
aboil1846
1846 Hogg's Weekly Instructor 18 July 322/2 It is seen to bubble exactly as if it were aboil.
1905 J. Outram In Heart Canad. Rockies xv. 437 The air was aboil with eddying twisting vapours.
1952 R. Ellison Invisible Man xii. 197 I wanted peace and quiet, tranquillity, but was too much aboil inside.
2001 N.Y. Rev. Bks. 8 Feb. 39/1 The West was aboil with explorers from the 1520s on.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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adv.adj.1774