broil

Etymology 1

From Middle English broillen, brulen (“to broil, cook”), from Anglo-Norman bruiller, broiller (“to broil, roast”), Old French brusler, bruller (“to broil, roast, char”), a blend of two Old French verbs: * bruir (“to burn”), from Frankish *brōjan (“to burn, scald”) * usler (“to scorch”), from Latin ustulō (“to scorch”)

verb

1. (transitive, Canada, US, obsolete in the U.K) To cook by direct, radiant heat.
   To broil a pigeon. When you broil them, do them in the same manner, and take care your fire is very clear, and set your gridiron high, that they may not burn, and have a little parsley and butter in a cup. You may split them, and broil them with a little pepper and salt, and you may roast them only with a little parsley and butter in a dish. 1788, Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy: Which Far Exceeds Any Thing of the Kind Yest Published, page 6
   To broil Red Mullet. Neither seale nor gut your mullet, wipe them very clean in a cloth, butter half a sheet of writing paper for each fish, put them in, and fasten it all round; have a very clear fire, broil them very gently for twenty minutes, hen put them in a dish, with anchovy sauce and plain butter in boats. 1798, Richard Briggs, The English Art of Cookery…With Bills of Fare for Every Month in the Year…A New Edition, page 70
   To broil fish. To broil trout in a third way. When they are cleaned and washed, dry them well in a napkin. Then bind them about with packthread, sprinkle them with melted butter and salt, and broil them over a gentle fire, turning them from time to time. 1813, Bell Plumptre, Domestic Management; Or, the Healthful Cookery-Book, page 247
2. (transitive, Canada, US) To expose to great heat.
3. (intransitive, Canada, US) To be exposed to great heat.

noun

1. Food prepared by broiling.

Etymology 2

Middle English broilen (“to quarrel, present in disorder”), from Anglo-Norman broiller (“to mix up”), from Vulgar Latin *brodiculāre (“to jumble together”) from *brodum (“broth, stew”), from Frankish *broþ (“broth”), from Proto-Germanic *bruþą (“broth”).

verb

1. (transitive) To cause a rowdy disturbance; embroil.
2. (intransitive, obsolete) To brawl.

noun

1. (archaic) A brawl; a rowdy disturbance.
   come to broils
   Since the provinces declared their independence, broils and squabblings of one sort and another have greatly retarded the advancement which they might otherwise have made. 1840, Robert Chambers, William Chambers, Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, volume 8, page 382