distill

views updated Jun 08 2018

dis·till / disˈtil/ (Brit. distil) • v. [tr.] purify (a liquid) by vaporizing it, then condensing it by cooling the vapor, and collecting the resulting liquid: they managed to distill a small quantity of water | [as adj.] (distilled) dip the slide in distilled water. ∎  (usu. be distilled) make (something, esp. liquor or an essence) in this way: whiskey is distilled from a mash of grains | [as n.] (distilling) the distilling industry. ∎  extract the essence of (something) by heating it with a solvent. ∎  remove (a volatile constituent) of a mixture by using heat: coal tar is made by distilling out the volatile products in coal. ∎  (often be distilled) fig. extract the essential meaning or most important aspects of: my travel notes were distilled into a book | [as adj.] (distilled) the employee report is a distilled version of the main accounts. ∎  [intr.] poetic/lit. emanate as a vapor or in minute drops: she drew back from the dank breath that distilled out of the earth.DERIVATIVES: dis·til·la·tion / ˌdistəˈlāshən/ n.dis·til·la·to·ry / -əˌtôrē/ adj.

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