Meaning & use
my blood is boiling
Last updated
Meaning
phraseidiominformalfigurative
used to say that you are extremely angry about something
Grammar: Used as a complete clause, often with 'was' for past time: My blood was boiling. You can also say 'make someone's blood boil'.
Patterns
- my blood is boiling
- my blood was boiling
- make someone's blood boil
When I saw the mess they left, my blood was boiling.
My blood is boiling just thinking about how unfairly she was treated.
He stayed calm, but inside his blood was boiling.
Common combinations
- my blood is boiling
- My blood is boiling after reading that rude email.
- make someone's blood boil
- The way they ignored her complaint made my blood boil.
- blood was boiling
- Her blood was boiling when she heard the news.
Synonyms and how they differ
- furious
- This adjective is more neutral and can be used in formal writing; the idiom is more vivid and informal.
- seeing red
- This idiom also means very angry, but it focuses on a sudden reaction rather than a lasting feeling.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: my blood is boiling or my blood ran cold?
my blood is boiling vs my blood ran cold
This means you were suddenly very frightened, not angry.
Practice
When I heard they had canceled the event without telling us, my blood ________.
Choose one answer.
The past tense 'was boiling' matches the past time in 'When I heard'. 'Is boiling' and 'boils' are present, which clashes with the past situation, and 'boiled' is not the usual form of this idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “my blood is boiling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.