soft boiled

Briefly cooked eggs

Soft boiled describes an egg cooked in its shell just long enough for the white to set while the yolk remains runny: soft-boiled eggs with toast soldiers.

The cooking time is typically three to five minutes.

Figuratively, soft-boiled means gentle or sentimental—the opposite of hard-boiled.

egg

yolk

Egg's nutrient core

albumenClear protein in eggs
shellHard outer covering
whiteAbsence of pigment

soldiers · toast · eggcup · spoon · timer · coddled · poached · protein · organic · free-range

breakfast

toast

Heated bread; glass-raising honor

soldiersMilitary personnel who fight
baconCured smoked pork
sausageEncased ground meat

hash browns · coffee · tea · brunch · eggcup · salt · pepper · muffin · congee · ramen

texture

runny

Excessively fluid

gooeySoft and sticky
jammyLuckily successful, undeserved
oozingLeaking viscously and slowly

creamy · molten · viscous · dippy · tender · delicate · silky · yielding · wobbly · jiggly

cooking

simmer

Cook just under boiling

poachCook gently submerged
coddleOverindulge or poach gently
blanchScald briefly, then cool

timer · ice bath · water bath · sous-vide · steaming · peeling · shocking · timing · temperature · altitude

Opposites

egg cooking doneness

soft boiledwell done

Thoroughly cooked, or congratulations

overcooked · firm · set · solid · rubbery

METAPHORICAL TOUGHNESS (of a person)

soft boiledtough

Durable and strong

hardened · cynical · hard-nosed · unsentimental · callous

Family

soft, boil, softer, softest, softly, soften, softened, softening, softener

Familiarity: Top 200,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Everyday, not technical · Rated G