boil and boyle are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. boil means “come to the boiling point and change from a liquid to vapor”. boyle means “United States writer (1902-1992)”. boil is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈbɔɪl/
1.v.come to the boiling point and change from a liquid to vapor
“Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius”
2.v.immerse or be immersed in a boiling liquid, often for cooking purposes
“boil potatoes”
3.v.bring to, or maintain at, the boiling point
“boil this liquid until it evaporates”
/ˈbɔɪl/
| boil | boyle | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈbɔɪl/ | /ˈbɔɪl/ |
| Said | boyl | boyl |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 5 |
| Parts of speech | verb, noun | noun |
| Senses | 7 | 2 |
| How common | Common | Familiar |
| Synonyms | none recorded | Kay Boyle |
Full entry for boil · Full entry for boyle · More comparisons
1.n.United States writer (1902-1992)
2.n.Irish chemist who established that air has weight and whose definitions of chemical elements and chemical reactions helped to dissociate chemistry from alchemy (1627-1691)