distill
verb
dis·till
| \ di-ˈstil
\
\
variants:
or less commonly distil
distilled;
distilling
Definition of distill
1
: to let fall, exude, or precipitate (see precipitate entry 1 sense 3b) in drops or in a wet mist
some caves are dry, others distill water from invisible rifts— Norman Douglas
2a
: to purify or transform (a liquid) by successive evaporation and condensation : to subject to or transform by distillation
distill molasses into rum
b
: to obtain by or as if by distillation
distill whiskey able to distill humor from personal loss
c
: to extract the essence of : concentrate
distill the experience into a poem
1a
: to fall or materialize in drops or in a fine moisture
b
: to appear slowly or in small quantities at a time
2a
: to undergo distillation
b
: to perform distillation
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Examples of distill in a Sentence
They distill the whiskey from malted barley.
He has perfectly distilled the meaning of the holiday into a poem.
Recent Examples on the Web
For a while, the simplest take – however true -- distills Swift into one of two moods: her love life and people who bully her. — Billboard Staff, Billboard, "Five Burning Questions: Billboard Staffers Discuss Taylor Swift's Big 'Lover' Debut Week," 4 Sep. 2019 Almost everybody works for the local Asconi winery, and almost everyone distills their own wine. — Madeline Roache / Puhoi, Time, "'You’re Not a Person if You Don’t Drink.' How This Tiny European Country Developed the World's Worst Drinking Problem," 29 Aug. 2019 The author-illustrator team distills the commission’s 500-plus pages into a slim, lucid volume that in no way dumbs down or oversimplifies the findings. — George Gene Gustines, BostonGlobe.com, "Ernie Colón, 88, comic book artist who drew 9/11," 17 Aug. 2019 Finally, Fitbit Premium subscribers will also be able to distill accumulated data in one easy-to-read, printable report that will be developed in conjunction with medical professionals. — Adrienne So, WIRED, "Fitbit Wants to Be Your One-Stop Health Care Shop," 28 Aug. 2019 Golden Wind manages to really distill this aspect of the series by offering up a small crew of people the viewers really want to root for. — Michael Moore, The Verge, "The Best Anime of 2019: an ongoing list," 16 Aug. 2019 This recipe offers a textbook lesson in how to distill the very essence of peaches and then infuse it into a frozen dessert. — Wolfgang Puck, Twin Cities, "Wolfgang Puck: Cool off with homemade ice cream that captures the essence of summer fruit," 14 Aug. 2019 Portrait illustrations must distill some essence of the human experience. — Cate Mcquaid, BostonGlobe.com, "Beasts, monsters and a master artistic storyteller," 31 July 2019 Powerful individual photographs seem to distill entire movies. — Robert Taylor, The Mercury News, "Museo Italo Americano exhibit in SF will make you feel like you’re in a Fellini movie," 29 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'distill.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for distill
distill
verb
English Language Learners Definition of distill
: to make (a liquid) pure by heating it until it becomes a gas and then cooling it until it is a liquid again : to purify (a liquid) by distillation
: to make (a strong alcoholic drink) by using this process
: to take the most important parts of something and put them in a different and usually improved form
See the full definition for distill in the English Language Learners Dictionary
distill
verb
dis·till
variants:
also distil \ di-ˈstil \
distilled;
distilling
Kids Definition of distill
: to make (a liquid) pure by heating it until it becomes a gas and then cooling it until it becomes a liquid
distill water
distill
verb
dis·till
variants:
also distil \ dis-ˈtil
\
\
distilled;
distilling
Medical Definition of distill
1
: to subject to or transform by distillation
2
: to obtain by or as if by distillation
3
: to obtain an extract from (as a plant) by infusion and distillation
making medicines by distilling herbs
1
: to undergo distillation
2
: to condense or drop from a still after distillation
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