distil

/dɪˈstɪl/
verb
  1. To heat a liquid until it becomes a gas and then cool it so that it becomes a liquid again, in order to purify it or separate it into parts.
    • In the lab, they distil the mixture to extract the pure alcohol.
    • The chemist used a special flask to distil the water and remove impurities.
    • Some people distil their own essential oils from lavender and other plants.
  2. To extract or obtain the essential meaning or most important part of something.
    • The author managed to distil years of research into a single, clear paragraph.
    • She tried to distil the main points of the speech into a few bullet points.
    • Good teachers can distil complex ideas into simple lessons that anyone can understand.
What does "distil" mean? | whatsthatwordmean | whatsthatwordmean