boil off

IPA/bˈɔɪl ˈɒf/
IPA/bˈɔɪl ˈɔf/

boil off — phrasal verb

  • boil offbase form
  • boils off3rd person singular
  • boiling off-ing form
  • boiled offpast simple

1. if a liquid boils off, or you boil it off, it turns into gas and disappears beca

1.片語動詞及物 / 不及物B2
釋義

if a liquid boils off, or you boil it off, it turns into gas and disappears because it has been heated until it is very hot

例句

Amelia let the sauce simmer until most of the wine had boiled off.

intransitive: [liquid] boils off

Mizuki stirred the soup until the extra water boiled off and it grew thick.

同義詞
  • evaporate

    more technical; happens with or without strong heat

  • cook off

    informal; mostly used in cooking about alcohol or liquid

文法句型

boil off

boil off + object

用法筆記

Subject or object is usually a liquid (water, wine, alcohol, moisture). The intransitive use ('the water boiled off') is more common than the transitive ('boil off the alcohol').

常見錯誤

I boiled off the pasta for ten minutes.
I boiled the pasta for ten minutes.
💡'boil off' means a liquid turns to gas and goes, not simply cooking something in boiling water.

2. to take gum, wax, or other unwanted matter out of silk or another fabric by boil

2.片語動詞及物C2
釋義

to take gum, wax, or other unwanted matter out of silk or another fabric by boiling it in a special liquid

例句

The mill workers boil off the raw silk before they begin dyeing it.

transitive: boil off + [fabric]

Dahlia boiled off the new cloth to wash away the sticky gum and wax.

object is fabric being cleaned of gum/wax

同義詞
  • degum

    narrower; only the removal of gum from silk

  • scour

    broader textile cleaning, not always by boiling

文法句型

boil off + object

用法筆記

Specialist textile term; the object is the fabric (silk, cloth), and the thing removed is gum, wax, or sizing. Distinguish from sense 1, where the liquid itself disappears rather than being cleaned out of cloth.

boil off — noun