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

intransitive verb

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

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about distill

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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

Its nine hotels — including locations in Chicago, London, Los Angeles and New Orleans — aim to distill the creative vibe of each city by hosting events featuring local musicians, artists, writers and filmmakers. — Elaine Glusac, New York Times, "From Ace Hotel, a New City and a New Brand," 25 June 2018 No word—no matter how descriptive—could ever distill all the nuance and complexity that is a single human being. — Orrin Hatch, WSJ, "Identity Politics Threatens the American Experiment," 18 May 2018 To have a sense of what’s interesting, to talk to the right people, to take it all and distill it into 8,000 words that are mostly written on the fly? — Tim Rohan, SI.com, "King‘s Tale: An Oral History of Peter King," 29 May 2018 In November and December, each team and product area will develop its own plans for the coming year and distill them into OKRs. — John Doerr, WIRED, "When John Doerr Brought a ‘Gift’ to Google’s Founders," 24 Apr. 2018 For its new Ginger Zest, Belvedere separately distills fresh ginger, pink grapefruit, lemon, and honey vodkas then blends them with more base spirit, much as a blended whiskey would be made. — Elva Ramirez, charlotteobserver, "Flavored vodka is moving on from its whipped cream, PB&J past," 6 July 2018 What happened next is a moment that perfectly distills Davidson’s appeal. — Patricia Hernandez, The Verge, "Did you hear Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson are engaged?," 26 June 2018 New York artist Shoja Azari distills the sweep of these elements in two video projections, inserting live-action clips of recent political events into a Persian manuscript painting and a coffee-house mural. — Christopher Knight, latimes.com, "In Iranian art show at LACMA, the past wrestles with the present," 4 June 2018 Below, nine new summer eaux that distill the scent of freedom into a bottle. — Zoe Ruffner, Vogue, "9 Dreamy Fragrances Inspired by Summer’s Greatest Escapes," 1 June 2018

These 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.