simmer
Americanverb (used without object)
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to cook or cook in a liquid at or just below the boiling point.
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to make a gentle murmuring sound, as liquids cooking just below the boiling point.
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to be in a state of subdued or restrained activity, development, excitement, anger, etc..
The town simmered with rumors.
verb (used with object)
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to keep (liquid) in a state approaching boiling.
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to cook in a liquid that is kept at or just below the boiling point.
noun
verb phrase
verb
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to cook (food) gently at or just below the boiling point
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(intr) to be about to break out in rage or excitement
noun
Related Words
See boil 1.
Other Word Forms
- resimmer verb
- simmeringly adverb
- unsimmered adjective
- unsimmering adjective
Etymology
Origin of simmer
First recorded in 1645–55; alteration of earlier simper < ?
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Backlash to AI has been simmering for months.
The Taliban government has denied harbouring militants and its spokesperson has called for "dialogue" to resolve a previously simmering conflict that Pakistan's defence minister said on Friday was now "open war".
From Barron's
With viewers set to find out if the pair's simmering forbidden love can conquer all, Australian actress Yerin Ha, who plays Sophie, tells Newsbeat that representing her community is all she's "ever wanted".
From BBC
The earlier disaster may have helped douse a decades-long conflict between Aceh's separatists and the Indonesian government, but a simmering mistrust of Jakarta lingers.
From Barron's
A presumption that there is an undercurrent of simmering rage in day-to-day life has taken hold in ways that might have startled past generations.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
