variants
or less commonly distil
distilled; distilling
1
: to let fall, exude, or precipitate (see precipitate entry 1 sense 3b) in drops or in a wet mist
some caves are dry, others distill water from invisible rifts—
Norman Douglas
Norman Douglas2
a
: to purify or transform (a liquid) by successive evaporation and condensation : 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
distill the experience into a poem
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
Examples of distill in a Sentence
They distill the whiskey from malted barley.
He has perfectly distilled the meaning of the holiday into a poem.
Recent Examples on the Web
Setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals is equally important in any business setting, even if the effort required to distill complex business and team objectives into a simple set of one-line goals can be far more challenging.
—Stephen Turban, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
How to distill culture, vibes, food, scenery, and all the other factors that shape the international travel experience?
—Todd Miller, Contributor, CNBC, 31 July 2024
The competition’s goal is to distill the copious amounts of data collected from every player during every NFL game into stats and insights that the league and its teams can learn from.
—Nicolas Vega, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2024
Thankfully, the first two seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina managed to distill the broad joy of a long-running D&D game into palatable television.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for distill 
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Stephen Turban, Forbes, 18 Sep. 2024
How to distill culture, vibes, food, scenery, and all the other factors that shape the international travel experience?
—Todd Miller, Contributor, CNBC, 31 July 2024
The competition’s goal is to distill the copious amounts of data collected from every player during every NFL game into stats and insights that the league and its teams can learn from.
—Nicolas Vega, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2024
Thankfully, the first two seasons of The Legend of Vox Machina managed to distill the broad joy of a long-running D&D game into palatable television.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for distill
Dictionary Entries Near distill
Cite this Entry
“Distill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/distill. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
distill
verb
dis·till
variants
also distil
distilled; distilling
: to obtain or purify by distillation
Medical Definition
distill
verb
dis·till
variants
also distil
distilled; distilling
1
: to subject to or transform by distillation
2
: to obtain by or as if by distillation
3
: to obtain an extract from (as a plant) by infusion and distillation
making medicines by distilling herbs
1
: to undergo distillation
2
: to condense or drop from a still after distillation
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