hard-boiled; hard-boiling; hard-boils

transitive verb

: to cook (an egg) in the shell until both white and yolk have solidified

Examples of hard-boil in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
It can be poached, scrambled, scotched, roasted, hard-boiled, devilled, pickled, and soft-boiled, all by itself. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026 The key is timing—knowing how long to hard-boil eggs makes all the difference. Victoria Spencer, Martha Stewart, 31 Mar. 2026 Whether or not Johnson’s private eye character will be hard-boiled, soft-boiled, or even poached remains to be seen. Joe Otterson, Variety, 25 Feb. 2026 The lenses of deep-sea fish are also especially susceptible to clouding, in the same way that egg whites go from clear to opaque when hard-boiled. Literary Hub, 25 Sep. 2025 Throwing a quick fried or hard-boiled egg—again, that’s six grams of protein—on top of a salad, soup, rice bowl, or pasta dish, for example, will tip the scale with little extra effort, Harbstreet says. Audrey Bruno, SELF, 25 Sep. 2025 When a nasty storm swoops in, the first victim falls and gets hard-boiled in a sauna. Randy Myers, Mercury News, 20 June 2025 Notes: To hard-boil the eggs, bring a medium (4-quart) pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from hard-boiled

First Known Use

1653, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hard-boil was in 1653

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hard-boil.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard-boil. Accessed 2 May. 2026.

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