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

The two players appeared to grab each other’s facemasks before their bad blood boiled over. —Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 16 Nov. 2025

Brown's lack of involvement has been one of the biggest storylines this year for the Philadelphia Eagles, and frustration has boiled over in recent weeks. —Rowan Fisher-Shotton, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Nov. 2025

Bring to a boil over high heat. —Lindsey Desoto, Health, 13 Nov. 2025

The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Sudiksha Kochi report tensions are boiling over within the Democratic Party, just a week after the party was riding high off its sweeping success in last Tuesday’s elections. —Jared Gans, The Hill, 11 Nov. 2025

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