Monday, May 23, 2016

royal, roil

Royal or royal describes something related to a king, a queen, or a kingdom --
He wants to visit the royal palace.
He claims to be of royal blood.

Roil or roil means to churn or stir up water or some other liquid, making it cloudy --
If you are careful not to roil the water, you'll be able to see the fish.
Don't roil the wine; handle it carefully.

Roil may also mean, figuratively,  to agitate or disturb --
Don't roil him with your teasing; he'll be hard to live with.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"One mention of the royal family will roil him to republican speechifying."

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