Meaning of distil in English:

distil

(US distill)

verbdistils, distilling, distilled

[with object]

1Purify (a liquid) by heating it so that it vaporizes, then cooling and condensing the vapour and collecting the resulting liquid.
‘they managed to distil a small quantity of water’
- ‘The mine later built a condensing plant and distilled the water pumped from the shafts.’
- ‘If they said distilled water won't boil, they are incorrect.’
- ‘Touted by some as water's purest form, distilled water is produced by condensing steam from boiled water back into its liquid state.’
- ‘For negative bleaching, distilled water may be preferable.’
- ‘The control group was given distilled water plus saline.’
- ‘In order to reduce stress on the liver, you need to give it the purest form of water possible, which is distilled water.’
- ‘Group 1 served as normal control and was given distilled water orally.’
- ‘The industrial use of azeotropes to distill or purify mixtures of liquids is one of the more important aspects in any distillation process.’
- ‘Deionized, distilled, and filtered water was used in the clean room.’
- ‘Water, doubly distilled over quartz, was purified by Milli-Q Plus system (Millipore, Bedford, MA).’
- ‘Before it is used in cosmetics, water must be filtered, distilled, sterilized, and deionized.’
- ‘Don't store distilled or ultra pure reverse osmosis water in soft plastic bottles.’
- ‘When distilling ethanol, the highest purity possible with an efficient still is 95 percent.’
- ‘Baking soda, distilled white vinegar, washing soda, Borax and a good liquid soap or detergent will do nicely.’
purify, refine, filter, treat, process
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1. 1.1Make (spirits or an essence) by distilling.
  ‘whisky is distilled from a mash of grains’
  ‘A spirit is distilled from the stalks thus prepared, by first fermenting them with water and either mingling bilberries with them or not.’
  ‘Spirit labelled ‘brandy’ must be distilled from wine made from the fermentation of grapes.’
  ‘They also introduced tombo beer which is brewed from sorghum, and kashipembes which is distilled from a variety of wild fruits and berries.’
  ‘Genever, Holland's version of gin, is often distilled from malted grain mash similar to that used for whisky.’
  ‘The spirit also must be distilled in a traditional pot still and aged in Limousin oak.’
  ‘Only California grapes can be used, and the spirit must be distilled to below a maximum of 85 per cent alcohol.’
  ‘There is now an acceptance by many that perhaps love really does flow in the veins of the people who drink Vodka distilled from potato seeds.’
  ‘The spirit they distilled became popular among the black South Africans too and is now finding its way back home, so to say.’
  ‘The waiter served a typical drink with our coffees - rum, distilled from local sugar-cane and blended with honey.’
  ‘Poteen he explained is a very potent liquor distilled from potatoes.’
  ‘When the fermentation has ceased the resulting liquid is then distilled.’
  ‘He also invented a home-brewed replacement for that sooty kerosene - ethanol alcohol distilled from sweet sorghum using solar energy.’
  ‘The filtered juice is fermented for up to three days, distilled, cooled and refiltered.’
  ‘In his optimism, Sale has even talked about exporting ethanol, at the same time touting Manitoba as a cheap place to grow the grain used to distil ethanol.’
  ‘The difference is that in ‘distilled gin’ the botanicals that give the drink its flavor are distilled with the alcohol.’
  ‘My own father taught me how to shoot pheasant, build model airplanes, and distill alcohol, but he really didn't know how to fix much around the house.’
  ‘France and England forbade commercial distilleries, so Americans started distilling the sugar cane residue themselves, primarily in New England.’
  ‘The port is from Frey zinfandel grapes and the added brandy is distilled in a certified organic distillery from Frey chenin blanc grapes.’
  ‘The label reveals that it is distilled four times and has 5.5% more alcohol than the cheaper own-labels.’
  ‘Their primary staple was probably agave cactus, which the Spaniards later began distilling into mezcal, a liquor.’
  brew, ferment, make
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2. 1.2Extract the essence of (something) by heating it with a solvent.
  ‘distil the leaves of some agrimony’
  ‘Organic oils are distilled or extracted from plants that are grown without pesticides.’
  ‘The hairs were treated in special containers to distill amino acid, the most common substance contained in soybean sauce.’
  ‘As the steam condenses, the essential oil is distilled from the water.’
  ‘Sometimes, the hot steam or water used to distill an essential oil does not extract much natural oil from the plant or harms the precious natural oil.’
  ‘Cholesterol was dissolved in ethanol and distilled, deionized water was added dropwise until a white precipitate appeared.’
  ‘The materials to be distilled are mashed in water.’
  ‘A hydrosol is the water-based product left over after essential oils have been distilled off, like rose water.’
  ‘The liquid turned out to be distilled morning glory seeds, which contain traces of lysergic acid.’
  ‘Although the cedarwood the Egyptians used was distilled by a crude distillation process, the other oils the Egyptians used were most likely infused oils.’
  ‘By adding a small amount of other organic liquids, the ethanol can be distilled to 100%.’
  ‘The alchemists then started trying to distill the Pneuma to discover its properties.’
  ‘And I happen to have a bottle of aromatherapy oil distilled from the essence of myrrh.’
  ‘Absinthe traditionally was distilled from a variety of plant products extracted into an ethanol base.’
  ‘Dr Dodd told the Glasgow Herald his plans include distilling and delivering aromatherapy products by phone.’
  extract, press out, squeeze out, express, draw out, take out
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3. 1.3Remove (a volatile constituent) of a mixture by heating.
  ‘coal tar is made by distilling out the volatile products in coal’
  ‘Krill oil, and most fish oil concentrates, are molecularly distilled to remove heavy metals.’
  ‘To aid purification, TiO 2 has to be transformed into its corresponding tetrachloride, which is volatile and therefore easier to distil.’
  ‘About one third of the smoke constituents, including nicotine, distil out of tobacco in this region.’
  ‘While it was already known that distilling sea water removed the salt, the process had always left a disagreeable taste.’
  ‘This form of creosote, a mixture of chemicals created by distilling coal tar, is toxic in large amounts or after extended exposure.’
  ‘Alcohol should be distilled out of wine before it is sold and drunk for its heart-healthy effects.’
  ‘Dimethyl sulfoxide was freshly distilled from calcium hydride before use.’
  ‘That is because they are distilled to the point where no molecules of the disease product remain.’
  boil down, reduce, concentrate, thicken, compress, condense
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4. 1.4literary no object Emanate as a vapour or in minute drops.
  ‘she drew back from the dank breath that distilled out of the earth’
  ‘The humpback weatherfront now hauls slow tarps of rain across our hills, but what is the pool where praise distils?’
  ‘I don't write messy realism; I write philosophically-driven, distilled, and consciously framed fiction.’
  ‘The strawberries smothered in zabaglione which I had for dessert are summer itself distilled in a bowl.’
  ‘It is not ‘easy,’ not filled with narratives that lend themselves to paraphrase nor poems that distill into nice, aphoristic truisms.’
  ‘In the laboratory of time, subtle essences of disenchantment and pessimism are distilled.’
  emanate, exude, drip, leak, trickle, dribble, flow
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2Extract the essential meaning or most important aspects of.
‘my travel notes were distilled into a book’
- ‘The singing itself distills the essence of American popular music in Charles's patented style.’
- ‘Yet how does one distill the Orphic essence from its various and utterly distinctive incarnations?’
- ‘By this time, results from years of research and analysis had been distilled.’
- ‘These unchanging foundations can be distilled to three basic functions: collection, analysis, and production.’
- ‘Using intuitive navigation, they distill the most frequently used maintenance management features into a user-friendly interface.’
- ‘As their mentors did, readers can then capitalise on that currency by releasing a book that distills their own inside knowledge.’
- ‘Like many pregnant women, she is distilling all of society's free-floating anxiety about exposure to toxic chemicals into nine months of serious worrying.’
- ‘As Michel Foucault has explained, often ‘normal’ or ‘legitimate’ are first distilled by exposing what they are not.’
- ‘Perhaps Opie aims to revisit this magical period with his playful works, distilling the everyday into odd but intriguing icons.’
- ‘In the national media, the popular cartoon ‘Mark Trail’ beautifully distilled Silent Springs main ideas into a powerful graphic format.’
- ‘After being asked for a demo, Beam submitted two full-length albums, which were distilled down into the 11-song The Creek Drank the Cradle.’
- ‘From these interviews, it is Morris (not McNamara, it should be pointed out) who distills the 11 lessons of the film's subtitle.’
- ‘In Akhmatova's fierce lyric complaint, a resonant vision has been distilled from the speaker's experience.’
- ‘They are trained at great expense in traditions that are distilled from the work of their ancestors.’
- ‘Table 1 presents background characteristics distilled from the 1,448 case records.’
- ‘These sweeping goals reflect a ‘best-practices’ perspective distilled from an analysis of the current demands being placed on schools.’
- ‘Here in the West, we have the fortunate karma to be receiving the great teachings of the highest tantra, distilled from hundreds of years of experience.’
- ‘In essence, that means distilling your creative project into a nuts and bolts description that will capture the attention of producers and financiers.’
- ‘He was not an innovator, but he captured the essence of a style and distilled it into the best possible expression.’
- ‘If you can't distill all your interests, skills, and role into two words, then obviously you've failed at the business card.’