Charbroils

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To prepare food, especially meats, by subjecting it to direct high heat which creates a distinct outer char and flavor profile
2. This culinary technique involves cooking food like meat over flames to develop a flavorful charred crust while keeping the inside juicy
3. Cooks food by applying intense, direct heat that chars the exterior while preserving the interior moisture

Etymology: "Charbroils" is the third-person singular present form of "charbroil," so the verb's history is the history of its two parts. "Char" is an old English-language verb meaning to burn something until it turns black, and "broil" means to cook over direct heat, from a Middle English word for live coals or burning embers. Put together, "charbroil" describes grilling food so that its surface is scorched by open flames, which is exactly what the blackened marks on a steak record. The pairing is a straightforward compound: the first half supplies the idea of burning to blackness, and the second supplies the cooking method. Because each part already carried a clear meaning, the combined verb needed no special invention to be understood.

Synonyms: grills, scorches, burns, sears, toasts

Antonyms: boils, steams, cools, chills, freezes