Advertisement

View synonyms for

simmer

[ sim-er ]

verb (used without object)

  1. to cook or cook in a liquid at or just below the boiling point.
  2. to make a gentle murmuring sound, as liquids cooking just below the boiling point.
  3. to be in a state of subdued or restrained activity, development, excitement, anger, etc.:

    The town simmered with rumors.



verb (used with object)

  1. to keep (liquid) in a state approaching boiling.
  2. to cook in a liquid that is kept at or just below the boiling point.

noun

  1. the state or process of simmering.

verb phrase

    1. to reduce in volume by simmering.
    2. Slang. to become calm or quiet, as from a state of anger or turmoil:

      We waited for the audience to simmer down.

simmer

/ ˈɪə /

verb

  1. to cook (food) gently at or just below the boiling point
  2. intr to be about to break out in rage or excitement
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the act, sound, or state of simmering
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Other Word Forms

  • m·Բ· adverb
  • ·m verb
  • ܲ·m adjective
  • ܲ·m·Բ adjective
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of simmer1

First recorded in 1645–55; alteration of earlier simper < ?
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of simmer1

C17: perhaps of imitative origin; compare German summen to hum
Discover More

Synonym Study

See boil 1.
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

This kind of critique didn’t begin with the rise of food blogs or viral restaurant fails; it’s been simmering, and sometimes simmering over, for hundreds of years.

From

Looking back over the last two months, we can track how that unease went from a simmer to a boil.

From

Even in Quebec, a province where talk of independence has long simmered, voters told the BBC they wanted leadership that would stand up to Trump.

From

The aftershocks would reverberate through three generations of Britain's most celebrated intellectual family, the Huxleys, leaving wounds that simmered in private letters for more than sixty years.

From

Mr Ábrego García's case is part of a simmering showdown between the Trump administration and the US courts system on the issue of immigration.

From

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


Simmentalsimmer dim