distill

verb

dis·​till di-ˈstil 

variants or less commonly distil

distilled; distilling

transitive verb

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

2

a

: 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

intransitive verb

1

a

: to fall or materialize in drops or in a fine moisture

b

: to appear slowly or in small quantities at a time

2

a

: to undergo distillation

b

: to perform distillation

Synonyms

• dribble
• drip
• drop
• trickle

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

Life of a White-Hat Hacker (Zoe Schiffer, Vox, August 2019) The white hat/black hat binary used to distill hacking’s morality evokes fantasy roleplaying and metaphysical lore—fitting counterparts given the overarching nerd/geek subculture from which hacking emerged. —Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 12 Mar. 2024

Over five years, the rye moved from ceramic pots to greenhouses to fields, until finally there was enough to distill. —Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 25 Feb. 2024

Still, the project was only the latest in a lineage of attempts to distill charisma for an individual’s benefit—perhaps as a tool to win people’s attention, vote, or money. —Adrienne Matei, The Atlantic, 11 Dec. 2023

Both beautiful and disturbing, Guston’s work seemed to distill all the upheavals of the 20th century. —Karen Wilkin, WSJ, 8 Dec. 2023

All this toil gave Acocella the ability and license to distill and make big judgments even within the restrictive word count of a review or magazine piece. —Charles Arrowsmith, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024

Among the aims of Work’s AI initiative was a means to distill the vast amounts of information sucked up by satellites, phone intercepts, emails, and drones sitting in intelligence and military data banks into something accessible. —Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 20 Jan. 2024

Ben Clay, a former Special Forces soldier working on the case with other military veterans, sent her instructions for how to distill and purify water from non-potable sources such as toilet tanks. —Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, 8 Jan. 2024

However, to distill this abundance into a more digestible form, here's a concise roundup of the 10 best ski resorts in Canada. —Jonny Bierman, Travel + Leisure, 2 Jan. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English distillen, from Anglo-French distiller, from Late Latin distillare, alteration of Latin destillare, from de- + stillare to drip, from stilla drop

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Kids Definition

distill

verb

dis·​till

variants also distil

dis-ˈtil 

distilled; distilling

: to obtain or purify by distillation

Medical Definition

distill

verb

dis·​till

variants also distil

dis-ˈtil 

distilled; distilling

transitive verb

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

intransitive verb

1

: to undergo distillation

2

: to condense or drop from a still after distillation