Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

distil

[dih-stil]
See more synonyms for distil on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with or without object), dis·tilled, dis·til·ling. Chiefly British.
  1. distill.
Show More
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for distil

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • And now the King began to distil the elixir of life with their aid.

  • Even jealousy had begun to distil its poison—“Don Santiago!”

    The Rifle Rangers

    Captain Mayne Reid

  • However, if it was the last he'll just have to turn to and distil some more.

    Priscilla's Spies

    George A. Birmingham

  • Pour out thy venom, and do not distil it upon me drop by drop.

    Faustus

    Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger

  • I do not attempt to distil them out of fact as physicists distil their laws.

British Dictionary definitions for distil

distil

US distill

verb -tils, -tills, -tilling or -tilled
  1. to subject to or undergo distillationSee also rectify (def. 2)
  2. (sometimes foll by out or off) to purify, separate, or concentrate, or be purified, separated, or concentrated by distillation
  3. to obtain or be obtained by distillationto distil whisky
  4. to exude or give off (a substance) in drops or small quantities
  5. (tr) to extract the essence of as if by distillation
Show More
Derived Formsdistillable, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Latin dēstillāre to distil, from de- + stillāre to drip
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012