Adjacent Words

Distill definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISTILL, v.i. [L., to drop; a drop. Gr.]
1. To drop; to fall in drops.
Soft showers distilld, and suns grew warm in vain.
2. To flow gently, or in a small stream.
The Euphrates distilleth out of the mountains of Armenia.
3. To use a still; to practice distillation.
DISTILL, v.t.
1. To let fall in drops; to throw down in drops. The clouds distill water on the earth.
The dew, which on the tender grass the evening had distilled.
2. To extract by heat; to separate spirit or essential oils from liquor by heat or evaporation, and convert that vapor into a liquid by condensation in a refrigeratory; to separate the volatile parts of a substance by heat; to rectify; as, to distill brandy from wine, or spirit form melasses.
3. To extract spirit from, by evaporation and condensation; as, to distill cyder or melasses; to distill wine.
4. To extract the pure part of a fluid; as, to distill water.
5. To dissolve or melt. [Unusual.]
Swords by the lightnings subtle force distilled.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

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

Merriam Webster's

also distil verb (distilled; distilling) Etymology: Middle English distillen, from Anglo-French distiller, from Late Latin distillare, alteration of Latin destillare, from de- + stillare to drip, from stilla drop Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to let fall, exude, or precipitate in drops or in a wet mist 2. a. 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 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

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Distill Dis*till", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Distilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Distilling.] [F. distiller, from L. destillare, destillatum; de + stillare to drop, stilla a drop, prob. fr. stiria frozen drop, icicle; prob. akin to stare, E. stand. Cf. Still, n. & v., Instill.] [Written also distil.] 1. To drop; to fall in drops; to trickle. Soft showers distilled, and suns grew warm in vain. --Pope. 2. To flow gently, or in a small stream. The Euphrates distilleth out of the mountains of Armenia. --Sir W. Raleigh. 3. To practice the art of distillation. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Distill Dis*till", v. t. 1. To let fall or send down in drops. Or o'er the glebe distill the kindly rain. --Pope. The dew which on the tender grass The evening had distilled. --Drayton. 2. To obtain by distillation; to extract by distillation, as spirits, essential oil, etc.; to rectify; as, to distill brandy from wine; to distill alcoholic spirits from grain; to distill essential oils from flowers, etc.; to distill fresh water from sea water. ``Distilling odors on me.'' --Tennyson. 3. To subject to distillation; as, to distill molasses in making rum; to distill barley, rye, corn, etc. 4. To dissolve or melt. [R.] Swords by the lightning's subtle force distilled. --Addison.

Moby Thesaurus

aerate, aerify, atomize, boil, bolt, bootleg, brew, carbonate, chlorinate, clarify, clear, concentrate, condense, decoct, decrassify, depurate, dribble, drip, dripple, drop, edulcorate, elute, emit, essentialize, etherify, etherize, evaporate, exhale, express, extract, filter, filtrate, fluidize, fractionate, fume, fumigate, gasify, give off, gurgle, hydrogenate, infuse, leach, leak, leak out, lixiviate, melt down, moonlight, moonshine, narrow, oversimplify, oxygenate, percolate, perfume, press out, purify, rectify, reduce, reduce to elements, reek, refine, render, screen, seep, seethe, send out, separate, sieve, sift, simmer, simplify, smoke, soak, spiritualize, spray, spurtle, steam, steep, stew, strain, streamline, strip down, sublimate, sublime, sweat, trickle, trill, try, vaporize, volatilize, weep, winnow, wring, wring out