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Glite Dictionary
🌡️ Temperature for boiling 😡 Extreme anger
boiling point

boiling point

4 3.4
The temperature at which a liquid turns into a gas at normal air pressure
  • noun
  • /ˈbɔɪlɪŋ pɔɪnt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : punto de ebullición
  • The boiling point of water at sea level is 100 degrees Celsius.
  • boiling point of water
  • temperature below the boiling point
  • just below the boiling point

Let's take a concrete example of where we have a nice physical explanation, the boiling point of water, right?

Examples

  • One good indicator of a refrigerant's capacity is its normal boiling point.

    Academic text (1998)

  • The higher the boiling point, the lower the fluid's volumetric cooling capacity will be.

    Academic text (1998)

  • So now the boiling point is a function of pressure.

  • So at a given pressure, we're going to have a given boiling point, given temperature for water.

  • What is the boiling point of milk?

  • Could I raise the boiling point by applying more pressure?

  • And at higher pressures, of course, the boiling point goes up, not down.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Change the density or the pressure, and the boiling point changes.

    Blog text (30)

  • The water still can get no hotter than the boiling point, whatever it might then be.

    Blog text (30)

  • Before the temperature of any portion of the meat can exceed the boiling point, all the water in that portion has to boil away first.

    Academic text (1999)

Antonyms

freezing point
  • Specialized
1 2.8

The temperature at which a liquid becomes solid at normal air pressure

How Hot

boiling point
  • Specialized
4 3.4
cold
∞ 1.0
freezing point
  • Specialized
1 2.8

Surface Forms

boiling point singular
boiling points plural

Morphology

boil + point

The phrase combines 'boiling' (intense seething or agitation) with 'point' (a specific stage or moment), so the meaning 'the moment when anger or stress becomes extreme' is a direct, metaphorical extension of the literal composition. The anger-as-boiling metaphor and adjective+noun composition are common cross-linguistically and follow standard English patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can usually infer the meaning.

Etymology

Boiling point comes from the image of a liquid boiling, making bubbles and steam at a certain point of heat when it 'changes to a gas', so the phrase names that exact temperature.