seethe

verb

1. (intransitive)Of a liquid or other substance, or a container holding it: to be boiled (vigorously); to become boiling hot.

   “[W]hen a pot ſeetheth, if we lade it and moove the liquor up and down, even while it ſeetheth, we ſhall make it quiet.”

   “Deep Hell! that seethest in thy simmering pit; / Thy thousand throned horrors shall not vie, / Or ever compass it!”

2. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a liquid, vapor, etc., or a container holding it: to foam or froth in an agitated manner, as if boiling.

   “My bowels ſeeth wͪ in me ⁊ take no reſt, for yͤ dayes of my trouble are come vpõ me.”

   “I obſerue our Ducheſſe / Is ſicke a dayes, ſhe puykes, her ſtomacke ſeethes, […]”

   “O my belly ſeeths like a Porridge-pot, ſome cold vvater I ſhall boyle ouer elſe; my vvhole body is in a ſvveat, that you may vvring my ſhirt; […]”

   “[A] thouſand frantick Spirits / Seething, like riſing bubbles, on the brim, / Peep'd from the VVatry brink, and glovv'd upon me.”

   “And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething, / As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing, / A mighty fountain momently was forced: […]”

3. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a person: to be in an agitated or angry mental state, often in a way that is not obvious to others.

   “I vvill make a complementall aſſault vpon him for my buſineſſe ſeeth's.”

   “[F]or them alone did seethe / A thousand men in troubles wide and dark: […]”

   “She lay and seethed in fever many weeks, / But youth was strong and overcame the test; / Revolted soul and flesh were reconciled / And fetched back to the necessary day / And daylight duties.”

4. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a place: to be filled with many people or things moving about actively; to buzz with activity; also, of people or things: to move about actively in a crowd or group.

   “Shock Box was the skankiest bar in Hasted, complete with a cheesy jukebox, cheap pints, and a sweaty club in the basement that seethed every weekend with a superhorny boarding-school crowd.”

5. (figuratively, intransitive)Of a place: to have inhabitants in an angry or disaffected mood; to be in a state of unrest.

   “"All the north is seething," said Gerard. "We must contrive to agitate the metropolis," said Maclast, a shrewd carroty-haired paper-stainer.”

6. (archaic, transitive)To overboil (something) so that it loses its flavour or texture; hence (figurative), to cause (the body, the mind, the spirit, etc.) to become dull through too much alcoholic drink or heat.

   “Yee come t'encounter vvith a valiant Foe; / […] ſuch as ſhrinke not / To haue their bloods ſod vvith the dog-dayes heate, / Nor to be crudled vvith cold Saturnes Rod: […]”

   “[F]oorthvvith her eyes bred her eye-ſore, the firſt vvhite vvhereon their tranſpiercing arrovves ſtuck, being the breathleſſe corps of Leander: vvith the ſodaine contemplation of this piteous ſpectacle of her loue, ſodden to haddocks meate, her ſorrovve could not chooſe but be indefinite, […]”

   “Floriſhing vvits and men of good parts, good faſhion, good vvorth, baſely proſtitute themſelues to euery rogues company, to take Tobacco, and drinke, to ſing ſcurrile ſongs. […] They drovvn their vvits, ſeeth their braines in ale, […]”

   “'Tis a poor Ideot Boy, / Who sits in the Sun, and twirls a Bough about, / His weak eyes seeth'd in most unmeaning tears.”

7. (archaic, transitive)To soak (something) in a liquid; to drench, to steep.
8. (obsolete, transitive)To boil (something); especially, to cook (food) by boiling or stewing; also, to keep (something) boiling.

   “Iacob ſod potage ⁊ Eſau came from the feld ⁊ was faine […]”

   “When we had paſſed againe the line, and were come to the third degree, or ſomewhat more, we ſawe crabs ſwimming on the water that were red as though they had bene ſodden, but this was no signe of land.”

   “Capillus Venerus, Polytrichon or Maydenhaire, the lye in vvhich it is ſodden or infus'd, is good to vvaſh the head and make the haire grovv in thoſe places that are more thin and bare.”

   “[B]eef, mutton, and venison […] were cut into joints and seathed in cauldrons made of the animal's own skins, sewed hastily together and filled with water; […]”

   “So many dead bodies were quartered, that the executioner stood ankle deep in blood. He was assisted by a poor man whose loyalty was suspected, and who was compelled to ransom his own life by seething the remains of his friends in pitch.”

9. (obsolete, transitive)Of the stomach: to digest (food).

   “Elixation is the ſeething of meat in the ſtomack, by the ſaid naturall heat, as meat is boyled in a pot; […]”

noun

1. (countable, figuratively, uncountable)A state of boiling or frothing; ebullition, seething; hence, extreme heat; much activity.