distill
Americanverb (used with object)
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to subject to a process of vaporization and subsequent condensation, as for purification or concentration.
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to extract the volatile components of by distillation; transform by distillation.
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to concentrate, purify, or obtain by or as by distillation.
to distill whiskey from mash.
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to remove by distillation (usually followed by off orout ).
to distill out impurities.
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to extract the essential elements of; refine; abstract.
She managed to distill her ideas into one succinct article.
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to let fall in drops; give forth in or as in drops.
The cool of the night distills the dew.
verb (used without object)
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to undergo or perform distillation.
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to become vaporized and then condensed in distillation.
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to drop, pass, or condense as a distillate.
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to fall in drops; trickle; exude.
Other Word Forms
- distillable adjective
- nondistillable adjective
- redistill verb (used with object)
- redistillable adjective
- redistillableness noun
Etymology
Origin of distill
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English distillen (from Anglo-French distiller ), from Latin distillāre, variant of dēstillāre, equivalent to dē- 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.
In previous years, France has subsidised the distilling of some of its surplus wine into ethanol alcohol, which can then be used for industrial purposes.
From Barron's
The animals received oral doses of flavanols at 25 mg/kg or 50 mg/kg of body weight, while a control group was given distilled water.
From Science Daily
It smelled like a concentration of growing things, green and earthy— like life distilled.
From Literature
The Browns had a hand in everything from ironmaking and rum distilling to whaling and the slave trade.
From Barron's
“One, it’s a great way to distill everything that’s happening in the world, because the ribeye doesn’t lie,” said Lewis.
From MarketWatch
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.
