Broil means to cook food with very high, direct heat from above. When you broil something in an oven, you place it on a rack near the top where a heating element glows red hot, searing the surface of the food quickly. It's like grilling upside down: instead of heat rising from below, it beams down from above.

Broiling works best for foods that cook quickly and benefit from a crispy, caramelized surface: chicken pieces, fish fillets, steak, or vegetables. You might broil a cheese sandwich to make the cheese bubble and turn golden brown, or broil salmon to give it a slightly charred crust while keeping the inside moist. Because broiling is so intense, you need to watch carefully. Food can go from perfectly cooked to burned in less than a minute.

The word can also describe scorching heat in general. On a blazingly hot summer day, you might say the sun is broiling or that you're broiling in the heat. A desert traveler might describe the broiling sun beating down. This usage captures that same sense of intense, direct heat that makes broiling such a powerful cooking method.