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Definition of "roil" [roil]

  • To make (a liquid) muddy or cloudy by stirring up sediment. (verb-transitive)
  • To displease or disturb; vex: My roommate's off-putting habits began to roil me. (verb-transitive)
  • To be in a state of turbulence or agitation. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "roil" in a sentence
  • "The word roil has appeared in 33 New York Times articles in the past year, including on Aug. 8 in The Caucus blog post "Rick Perry to Make Clear He Intends to Run," by Jeff Zeleny:"
  • "(BTW, "roil" means, disturb, muddy the waters - I had to look it up.)"
  • "Young Americans came to view religion, according to one survey, as judgmental, homophobic, hypocritical, and too political.49 All these were premonitory signs that a second major aftershock was about to roil the American religious landscape."