extract
Americanverb (used with object)
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extracts,
present (3rd person singular)
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extracted,
past participle, past
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extracting
present participle
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to get, pull, or draw out, usually with special effort, skill, or force.
to extract a tooth.
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to deduce (a doctrine, principle, interpretation, etc.).
He extracted a completely personal meaning from what was said.
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to derive or obtain (pleasure, comfort, etc.) from a particular source.
He extracted satisfaction from the success of his sons.
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to take or copy out (matter), as from a book.
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to make excerpts from (a book, pamphlet, etc.).
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to extort (information, money, etc.).
to extract a secret from someone.
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to separate or obtain (a juice, ingredient, etc.) from a mixture by pressure, distillation, treatment with solvents, or the like.
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Mathematics.
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to determine (the root of a quantity that has a single root).
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to determine (a root of a quantity that has multiple roots).
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noun
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extracts
plural
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something extracted.
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a passage taken from a book, article, etc.; excerpt; quotation.
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a solution or preparation containing the active principles of a drug, plant juice, or the like; concentrated solution.
vanilla extract.
- Synonyms:
- distillation, decoction
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a solid, viscid, or liquid substance extracted from a plant, drug, or the like, containing its essence in concentrated form.
beef extract.
verb
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to withdraw, pull out, or uproot by force
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to remove or separate
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to derive (pleasure, information, etc) from some source or situation
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to deduce or develop (a doctrine, policy, etc)
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informal to extort (money, etc)
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to obtain (a substance) from a mixture or material by a chemical or physical process, such as digestion, distillation, the action of a solvent, or mechanical separation
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to cut out or copy out (an article, passage, quotation, etc) from a publication
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to determine the value of (the root of a number)
noun
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something extracted, such as a part or passage from a book, speech, etc
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a preparation containing the active principle or concentrated essence of a material
beef extract
yeast extract
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pharmacol a solution of plant or animal tissue containing the active principle
Usage
Extract is sometimes wrongly used where extricate would be better: he will find it difficult extricating (not extracting ) himself from this situation
Synonym Usage
Extract, exact, extort, wrest imply using force to remove something. To extract is to draw forth something as by pulling, importuning, or the like: to extract a confession by torture. To exact is to impose a penalty, or to obtain by force or authority, something to which one lays claim: to exact payment. To extort is to wring something by intimidation or threats from an unwilling person: to extort money by threats of blackmail. To wrest is to take by force or violence in spite of active resistance: The courageous minority wrested power from their oppressors.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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extractabilitynoun
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extractibilitynoun
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overextractverb (used with object)
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preextractverb (used with object)
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extractableadjective
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extractibleadjective
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nonextractableadjective
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nonextractedadjective
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nonextractibleadjective
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unextractableadjective
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unextractedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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extractsimple
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extractssimple
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have extractedperfect
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has extractedperfect
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am extractingprogressive
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are extractingprogressive
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is extractingprogressive
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have been extractingperfect progressive
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has been extractingperfect progressive
Past
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extractedsimple
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had extractedperfect
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was extractingprogressive
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were extractingprogressive
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had been extractingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of extract
First recorded in 1475–1500; from Latin extractus (past participle of extrahere ). See ex- 1, tract 1
Explanation
When you extract something, you remove it from a larger whole. You can extract a passage from a book, or a liquid essence from a vanilla bean—vanilla extract. Ex- means out of, and when you extract, you draw something out of something else. When listening to a complicated and long-winded story, it can be difficult to extract the truly meaningful details.
Vocabulary lists containing extract
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 12–15
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Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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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.
See Examples For:
Press firmly on the peaches with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid, color and flavor as possible.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
"There are many long dinosaur trackways around the world where this method could be applied to extract behavioral information that was previously inaccessible."
From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026
It is an extract from a report by patrol officers responsible for tackling anti-social behaviour, who were out in the Coniston area one weekend in July.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Upstream units, which extract oil and gas, are posting bumper profits on higher prices after customers scrambled to replace the supply stuck in the Gulf.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
In any case, his job was to gather equipment and people and move them into the building, and then to extract the people and equipment and dead animals safely.
From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston
The company is most known for its camera network, which extracts data about cars from photographs and allows operators to search for vehicles by description or license plate number.
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
Tests showed that extracts from the bean gum lowered HPV levels by 93% in saliva samples.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
It's a far cry from basin depths in Silesia -- a historic coal mining region in southern Poland where he still extracts the ore.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
The male police officer in the transcript extracts below is the same officer heard in the video saying, "Don't think you have mate," before restraining him.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
She bends down and extracts a strip of pictures, only gently chewed by sprites.
From "The Cruel Prince" by Holly Black
Asked about the lawsuit during questioning, Turner said, “We’re working on that right now,” then shifted to a brown lunch bag pulled from the lectern from which he extracted several items.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
A total of nine bodies were recovered, and two survivors were extracted.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
The car lacked the pace to contend for points, but Ocon at least extracted more from the difficult weekend than Bearman.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Reporters programmatically extracted compensation tables, footnotes and other explanations of perquisites mentioned in the filings and fed the results to an LLM which parsed the amount, type and beneficiary of each perk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
Lady Constance reached into her reticule and extracted the same square, cream-colored envelope that Penelope had spotted on the mail tray the previous day.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
Two other Republicans who had threatened Blanche’s nomination, Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, ultimately voted to confirm him after extracting concessions.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
Farmers source water for their crops and livestock over summer from a combination of stored winter rainfall on site, and by extracting it from natural sources - a process called abstraction.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
While its emissions are lower, drilling and extracting it causes the leakage of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas and the main component of natural gas.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Cervo, founded in 2024, created a platform that uses agentic AI to draft customs entries by extracting information off documents about imported goods, automating what was a time-consuming, manual task.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
“Errol!” said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and extracting a letter from under its wing.
From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling
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.
