distil
Americanverb (used with or without object)
verb
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to subject to or undergo distillation See also rectify
-
to purify, separate, or concentrate, or be purified, separated, or concentrated by distillation
-
to obtain or be obtained by distillation
to distil whisky
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to exude or give off (a substance) in drops or small quantities
-
(tr) to extract the essence of as if by distillation
Other Word Forms
- distillable adjective
Etymology
Origin of distil
C14: from Latin dēstillāre to distil, from de- + stillāre to drip
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s hard to distil elections in a country as large as India to just a few faces - political choices can vary widely from region to region.
From BBC
It was given to CMAL, who then used a design firm to distil this into a 130-page document which was sent to all the bidders.
From BBC
The report, culminating a two-year evaluation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement goals, distils thousands of submissions from experts, governments and campaigners.
From Reuters
Cleverly said any attempt to distil the relationship down to a single word or a sound bite was fundamentally flawed.
From Reuters
"Soon, you'll see AI-powered features in Search that distil complex information and multiple perspectives into easy-to-digest formats, so you can quickly understand the big picture and learn more from the web."
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.