Definition

1. Verb (Transitive):

   • To purify or concentrate a liquid by heating it to create vapor and then cooling the vapor to collect the resulting purified liquid.
   • To extract the essential meaning, quality, or element of something abstract.
   • To cause a liquid to fall in drops or to give off a liquid in drops.

2. Verb (Intransitive):

   • To undergo the process of distillation.
   • To fall or be released in drops.

Examples of Usage

• Verb (Transitive):

  • They distill whiskey from fermented grain. (They purify and concentrate whiskey through heating and condensation.)
  • The book distills years of research into a single chapter. (The book extracts and presents the most essential findings from years of research.)
  • The doctor distilled a few drops of antiseptic onto the wound. (The doctor caused a few drops of antiseptic to fall onto the wound.)

• Verb (Intransitive):

  • Salt water can be made drinkable by distilling. (Salt water can be purified by undergoing the process of distillation.)
  • The steam will distill on the cold surface. (The steam will condense and fall in drops on the cold surface.)

Advanced Usage

• "to distill out": To separate or extract a specific substance or idea through distillation or a similar refining process.
  • The chemist distilled out the pure compound from the mixture.
• Used figuratively to describe the process of refining complex information into a clear, concentrated form.
  • Her philosophy distills ancient wisdom for the modern reader.

Variants and Related Words

• Distillation (n): The process of distilling a liquid or an abstract concept.
  • The distillation of crude oil produces various fuels.
  • This report is a distillation of the committee's findings.
• Distiller (n): A person or apparatus that distills, especially alcoholic spirits.
  • The distiller checked the aging barrels.
• Distillate (n): A liquid product condensed from vapor during distillation.
  • The clear distillate was collected in a flask.

Synonyms

• Purify: To remove contaminants from something.
• Extract: To remove or take out, especially by effort.
• Condense: To change from a gas or vapor to a liquid; to make more concise.
• Refine: To remove impurities or unwanted elements; to improve by making small changes.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Distill off: To remove a volatile component by distillation.
  • Heat the solution to distill off the solvent.

Related Idioms

• To distill something down to its essence: To reduce something to its most fundamental and important parts.
  • The negotiation was complex, but it distilled down to a question of trust.

Verb

1. give off (a liquid)
   • The doctor distilled a few drops of disinfectant onto the wound
2. undergo condensation; change from a gaseous to a liquid state and fall in drops
   • water condenses
   • The acid distills at a specific temperature
3. extract by the process of distillation
   • distill the essence of this compound
4. undergo the process of distillation
5. remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation
   • purify the water