distill
distill Lexical Profile
distill Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To purify or concentrate a liquid by heating it until it vaporizes and then cooling and condensing the vapor.
"The laboratory technicians distill water to remove mineral impurities before conducting chemical experiments."
To extract the essential meaning, most important aspects, or core principles of something.
"The author managed to distill decades of complex historical research into a concise, readable chapter."
To manufacture an alcoholic liquor or aromatic essence by the process of distillation.
"Artisanal producers in the region distill whisky in traditional copper pot stills."
To fall, trickle down, or exude slowly in small drops.
"Beads of resin slowly distill from the bark of the pine tree during the warm summer months."
Word Nuance & Usage
Spelled "distill" in American English and "distil" in British English, though both varieties use "distilled" and "distilling" for inflected forms.
• Rhymes for distill
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old French distiller, from Latin distillare ('to trickle down in drops'), formed from de- ('down') and stillare ('to drip'), from stilla ('a drop').