An archaic or dialect past tense form of 'boil,' meaning to have heated liquid until it bubbles vigorously.
From Middle English 'boisten,' an alternative conjugation of 'boil,' derived from Old French 'boillir' and Latin 'bullire,' representing an older English verbal system largely replaced by modern regular past tenses.
The word 'boist' is a linguistic fossil—it survived in certain English dialects long after the main language switched to 'boiled,' making it invaluable to historical linguists studying how English verbs gradually standardized their forms between 1300-1600.
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