[syn: distill, distil]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
Soft showers distilled, and suns grew warm in vain.
--Pope.
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2. To flow gently, or in a small stream.
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The Euphrates distilleth out of the mountains of
Armenia. --Sir W.
Raleigh.
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3. To practice the art of distillation. --Shak.
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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Distill \Dis*till"\, v. t.
1. To let fall or send down in drops.
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Or o'er the glebe distill the kindly rain. --Pope.
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The dew which on the tender grass
The evening had distilled. --Drayton.
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2. To obtain by distillation; to subject to a process of
evaporation and subsequent condensation; 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.
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3. To subject to distillation; as, to distill molasses in
making rum; to distill barley, rye, corn, etc.
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4. To dissolve or melt. [R.]
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Swords by the lightning's subtle force distilled.
--Addison.
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5. to extract out and present the essence of; to shorten and
refine; to present the essential elements of; -- of ideas
or texts.
[PJC]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
distill
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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
93 Moby Thesaurus words for "distill":
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