go off the boil

Definitions

1. 1

   To cease to boil when heat is no longer applied.

   • All puddings must be boiled in plenty of water, turned frequently, kept closely covered, and never allowed to go off the boil.
   • That is the reason for the coin. You will be able to hear it dancing about, and it will tell you if the water goes off the boil or is getting dangerously low.
2. 2

   To lose interest

   To lose interest; to pall.

   • As one of the rearguard put it, "We laid up until the Hun had gone off the boil a bit and slipped out the following night."
   • But John, not surprisingly, has gone off the boil, and feels nothing for Annette so strongly as an intense weariness and desire to be rid of her.
   • Wednesday to Shadow, "I don't sleep. It's overrated. A bad habit I do my best to avoid - in company, wherever possible, and the young lady may go off the boil if I don't get back to her."
3. 3

   To diminish in intensity or urgency.

4. ›+ 1 more definitionshow fewer

   1. 4

      To become less successful.

The neighborhood

• neighborbe off the boil
• neighborbe on the boil
• neighborbring to the boil
• neighborcome off the boil
• neighborcome on the boil
• neighborcome to the boil
• neighborgo on the boil
• neighborreturn to the boil