DISTILL • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Distill

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/dɪstˈɪl/ Listen

verb

Distill v. t.

1.

To let fall or send down in drops. "Or o'er the glebe distill the kindly rain." "The dew which on the tender grass The evening had distilled."

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."

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."

5.

To extract out and present the essence of; to shorten and refine; to present the essential elements of; of ideas or texts.

Distill v. i. (past & past part. distilled; pres. part. distilling) (Written also distil)

1.

To drop; to fall in drops; to trickle. "Soft showers distilled, 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 practice the art of distillation.

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Etymology of 'Distill'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Distill" Quotes from Famous Books

... scientific candor of the vices which were common to all statesmen in his age—though the Italians were so corrupt that it seemed hopeless to deal fairly with them—yet there was a radical taint in the soul of the man who could have the heart to cull these poisonous herbs of policy and distill their juices to a quintessence for the use of the prince to whom he was confiding the destinies of Italy.[1] Almost involuntarily we remember the oath which Arthur administered to his knights, when he bade them 'never to do outrage nor murder, and always to flee treason; also by no means ...

— Renaissance in Italy, Volume 1 (of 7) • John Addington Symonds

... and new, such as reaches the Indian encampments after passing through many hands. It burned like fire in their throats, and almost at once it began to distill ...

— The Snowshoe Trail • Edison Marshall

... then at my feet Saw two so strictly join'd, that of their head The very hairs were mingled. "Tell me ye, Whose bosoms thus together press," said I, "Who are ye?" At that sound their necks they bent, And when their looks were lifted up to me, Straightway their eyes, before all moist within, Distill'd upon their lips, and the frost bound The tears betwixt those orbs and held them there. Plank unto plank hath never cramp clos'd up So stoutly. Whence like two enraged goats They clash'd together; them such fury seiz'd. And one, from whom the cold both ears ...

— The Divine Comedy • Dante

... in later days, looked back on that afternoon she felt that there had been something prophetic in the quality of its solitude; it seemed to distill the triple essence of loneliness in which all her after-life was to be lived. No purchasers came; not a hand fell on the door-latch; and the tick of the clock in the back room ironically emphasized the ...

— Bunner Sisters • Edith Wharton

... good Milk, one pint of Muscadine, half a pint of red Rose-water, a penny manchet sliced thin, two handfuls of Raisins of the sun stoned, a quarter of a pound of fine sugar, sixteen Eggs beaten; mix all these together, then distill them in a common still with a soft fire, then let the Patient drink three or four spoonfuls at a time blood warm, being sweetned with Manus Christi made with Corral and Pearl; when your things are all in the still, strew four ounces of Cinamon ...

— A Queens Delight • Anonymous

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