boiling point

noun

1

: the temperature at which a liquid boils

2

a

: the point at which a person becomes uncontrollably angry

b

: the point of crisis : head sense 17b

matters had reached the boiling point

Synonyms of boiling point

• crisis
• crossroad(s)
• breaking point
• head
• flash point

Examples of boiling point in a Sentence

The boiling point of water is 212° Fahrenheit or 100° Celsius.

when the situation reached the boiling point, the President had no choice but to order out the National Guard

Recent Examples on the Web

Over the last week, tensions between the Pentagon and artificial intelligence giant Anthropic have reached a boiling point. —Jared Perlo, NBC news, 20 Feb. 2026

These tensions reportedly reached a boiling point last week when, by its own admission, the BNRA fatally shot a PDF fighter in a dispute over a weapon. —ABC News, 19 Feb. 2026

Around the end of 2008, the year before Montana opened its first gray wolf-hunting season, animus against the predators reached a boiling point. —Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 16 Feb. 2026

The Charlotte Hornets big man reached a boiling point with Detroit’s Jalen Duren on Monday night and simply had enough. —Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 10 Feb. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1741, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for boiling point

• counterpoint
• disappoint
• multipoint
• needlepoint
• reappoint
• adjoint
• anoint
• appoint
• checkpoint
• conjoint
• disjoint
• endpoint

Kids Definition

boiling point

noun

1

: the temperature at which a liquid boils

2

: the point at which a person becomes uncontrollably angry

3

: the point of crisis

Medical Definition

boiling point

noun

boil·​ing point ˈbȯi-liŋ-ˌpȯint 

: the temperature at which a liquid boils