parboil Hear it!

parboil definition

par·boil (pärbo̵il′)

transitive verb

  1. to boil (meat or vegetables) until partly cooked, as in preparation for roasting
  2. to make uncomfortably hot; overheat

Etymology: ME parboilen < OFr parboullir < par (< L per), through, thoroughly + boullir (< L bullire), to boil: meaning infl. in ME & ModE by assoc. of par with part

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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