boil over

See also: boilover

English edit

boil over (third-person singular simple present boils over, present participle boiling over, simple past and past participle boiled over)

(intransitive) To boil to such an extent as to overflow its container.
I forgot about the rice and it boiled over.
(idiomatic, of anger, etc.) To reach the point where aggressive action is taken.
- 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter XIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
  He b'iled right over, and the tongue-lashing he give that boss Right Liver beat anything I ever listened to. There was heap of Scriptur' language in it, and more brimstone than you'd find in a match factory.
- 2013 September 1, Phil McNulty, Liverpool 1-0 Man Utd, via BBC Sport:
  But as the half progressed, Liverpool's pressure and high-tempo passing game increased United's frustration and it threatened to boil over on the stroke of half-time when Van Persie, who had already been booked, was involved in angry verbal exchanges with several Liverpool players, particularly Gerrard.

boil so as to overflow