Cooked something quickly under direct heat, usually in an oven, until browned; or involved in a difficult or heated situation.
From Old French 'bruller' (to burn). The modern sense of cooking food emerged by the 17th century. The metaphorical 'broiled' (in trouble) follows logically from the heat involved.
Broiling is basically using your oven like a grill pointed downward—it's one of the fastest cooking methods, which is why it's popular in restaurant kitchens for finishing dishes quickly. The word literally means something is getting intensely heated, directly and constantly.
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