DISTILL (distilled, distilling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: distilled    , distilling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does distill mean? 

• DISTILL (verb)
  The verb DISTILL has 5 senses:

1. remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation

2. undergo the process of distillation

3. extract by the process of distillation

4. undergo condensation; change from a gaseous to a liquid state and fall in drops

5. give off (a liquid)

  Familiarity information: DISTILL used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISTILL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they distill    ... he / she / it distills   
Past simple: distilled   
Past participle: distilled   
-ing form: distilling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

distill; make pure; purify; sublimate

Context example:

purify the water

Hypernyms (to "distill" is one way to...):

ameliorate; amend; better; improve; meliorate (to make better)

Verb group:

distil; distill (undergo the process of distillation)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distill"):

rectify; refine (reduce to a fine, unmixed, or pure state; separate from extraneous matter or cleanse from impurities)

purge (rid of impurities)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

distillate (a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling)

distillation (the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors)

distillation (a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling)

distillment (the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Undergo the process of distillation

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

distil; distill

Hypernyms (to "distill" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

distil; distill; extract (extract by the process of distillation)

distill; make pure; purify; sublimate (remove impurities from, increase the concentration of, and separate through the process of distillation)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

distillate (a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling)

distillation (the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors)

distillation (a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling)

distillery (a plant and works where alcoholic drinks are made by distillation)

distillment (the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Extract by the process of distillation

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

distil; distill; extract

Context example:

distill the essence of this compound

Hypernyms (to "distill" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Verb group:

distil; distill (undergo the process of distillation)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "distill"):

moonshine (distill (alcohol) illegally; produce moonshine)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

distillate (a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling)

distillation (the process of purifying a liquid by boiling it and condensing its vapors)

distillation (a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling)

distillery (a plant and works where alcoholic drinks are made by distillation)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Undergo condensation; change from a gaseous to a liquid state and fall in drops

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

condense; distil; distill

Context example:

The acid distills at a specific temperature

Hypernyms (to "distill" is one way to...):

flux; liquefy; liquify (become liquid or fluid when heated)

Verb group:

condense (develop due to condensation)

condense (remove water from)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

distillate (a purified liquid produced by condensation from a vapor during distilling; the product of distilling)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Give off (a liquid)

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

distil; distill

Context example:

The doctor distilled a few drops of disinfectant onto the wound

Hypernyms (to "distill" is one way to...):

exudate; exude; ooze; ooze out; transude (release (a liquid) in drops or small quantities)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

 Context examples 

You can also rinse out your nose, but be sure to use distilled or sterilized water with saline.

(Hay Fever, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

The radiodensity of distilled water at standard temperature and pressure is zero on the Hounsfield scale.

(Hounsfield Unit, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

I'll be a double distilled saint.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The oil pressed or distilled from the seeds of trigonella foenum gracecum.

(Fenugreek Seed Oil, NCI Thesaurus)

An alcoholic beverage in which the initial fermentation mixture is distilled in order to concentrate the alcohol, generally resulting in a mixture that is at least 35% alcohol by volume.

(Liquor, NCI Thesaurus)

Derived by boiling impure water and condensing the resultant steam in a sterile container, distilled water has been shown to kill bladder cancer cells in vitro through osmotic lysis (cytolysis)

(Distilled Water, NCI Thesaurus)

A traditional unit of volume designed to contain 10 pounds of distilled water under precisely defined conditions and equal to 4.546 091 liters, 277.4194 cubic inches, or 1.20095 US liquid gallons, or 1.03206 US dry gallons.

(Gallon British, NCI Thesaurus)

A large curved retort was boiling furiously in the bluish flame of a Bunsen burner, and the distilled drops were condensing into a two-litre measure.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

These attributes, in spite of poverty and the strict integrity which shut him out from the more worldly successes, attracted to him many admirable persons, as naturally as sweet herbs draw bees, and as naturally he gave them the honey into which fifty years of hard experience had distilled no bitter drop.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)