boil over

verb

boiled over; boiling over; boils over

intransitive verb

1

: to overflow while boiling

2

a

: to become violent or lose control because of anger

so frustrated he's ready to boil over

b

: to develop into something more violent

Their disagreement finally boiled over into a fight.

boilover

ˈbȯi(-ə)l-ˌō-vər 

noun

Examples of boil over in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tensions are starting to boil over between the Writers Guild of America West and its striking staffers, who have been without paychecks for going on six weeks. —Gene Maddaus, Variety, 27 Mar. 2026

The frustration for the Razorbacks boiled over in the second half when Nick Pringle and coach John Calipari both got technical fouls and Billy Richmond was ejected after getting a flagrant 2 foul for shoving Kharchenkov. —ABC News, 27 Mar. 2026

Frustration seemed to be boiling over when one woman attempted to duck a rope and was yelled at by several in line. —Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Mar. 2026

These two are boiling over with romance. —Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 26 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for boil over

• carryover
• changeover
• crossover
• cutover
• flashover
• hangover
• holdover
• layover
• leftover
• makeover
• moreover
• passover

Kids Definition

boil over

verb

1

: to overflow while boiling

2

: to become so angry as to lose one's temper