boil up
boil up
1. To prepare food in boiling water. A noun or pronoun can be used between "boil" and "up." I'm just boiling up some pasta for dinner—it will be ready soon.
2. To increase in strength and intensity. Things had been tense between my aunts for a while, but those feelings really boiled up when they were forced to be together for days on our family vacation.
See also: boil, up
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
boil something up
Rur. to cook a batch of food by boiling. She boiled some beans up for dinner. She boiled up some potatoes.
See also: boil, up
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
boil up
v.
1. To prepare some food by boiling it: I boiled up some lobster for supper. Let's boil the potatoes up and fry them with ham.
2. To grow rapidly and steadily; escalate: Hostilities have been boiling up all over that part of the world.
See also: boil, up
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
- boil out
- boil down
- boil off
- come to a boil
- boil out of
- boil (something) out of (something)
- angle
- angling
- not do (someone or oneself) any favors
- involve with