1
as in dripping
to fall or let fall in or as if in drops
the basement walls distill water every time it rains heavily
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in filtering
to remove usually visible impurities from
distill the water before pouring it in the steam iron
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of distilling
The Englishman John French developed a scalable industrial method of production in 1651, although other peoples were already well on their way with production before this—for example, the Irish were distilling whiskey in 1405.
—
Literary Hub, 7 Jan. 2026
The answer for me will always be The Hidden Words, by Baha’u’llah, written in the mid 1800s in Arabic and Persian, distilling the essence of all past religions for ease of use in the future.
—Penn Badgley, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
The women, Nicole Barady and Liza Barrett, owned and ran the business; their husbands, Scott and Dan, were in charge of distilling the homemade blends (whiskey and vodka made with mountain water, some infused with green or red chiles, lavender, or pecan).
—Michael Paterniti, Travel + Leisure, 14 Nov. 2025
Kamala Harris’s memoir 107 Days succeeds at least in distilling the evasions and weaknesses of the modern Democratic Party.
—Fintan O’Toole, The New York Review of Books, 28 Oct. 2025
However, capturing that enthusiasm and distilling it into a movement is not an easy feat.
—Cate Charron, IndyStar, 17 Oct. 2025
Women have historically held various roles in the bourbon industry, from distilling to marketing.
—Olivia Evans, Louisville Courier Journal, 6 Oct. 2025
While there are a few male employees at Olta, most everything — from tending the crops to distilling the liquid to bottling it up — is done by women, a rarity in the machismo world of Mexican spirits.
—Allyson Reedy, Denver Post, 24 Sep. 2025
While members of the UK government were considering the country’s relationship to fashion, a handful of designers were distilling their own experience of British life onto the runway.
—Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for distilling
Verb
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Jessica Chastain wore a custom Cucinelli gown dripping in diamond accents and talked shop with DuVernay.—
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However things turn out next month, Bowe’s 38th birthday will coincide with another passage in her life, one dripping with anticipation and, perhaps, a dose of poignancy.—
Verb
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Strategically using dimmers, light-filtering and -blocking window coverings, and temperature-changing light sources also offer sensory support.—
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Winds will remain gusty throughout Saturday, with drier air filtering in behind the front.—
Verb
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The pennies could start flowing again, perhaps easing a shortage in some markets, after the Federal Reserve announced an upcoming shift in the distribution system of old 1-cent coins.—
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Now more diners are flowing through, gazing at the handwritten menu on the wall affixed with neat strips of orange tape, or calling ahead.—
Verb
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Rather than clarifying events surrounding Epstein's death, the footage appears to complicate the official narrative, and contradicts some prior statements about the prison's surveillance system.—
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The death certificates for Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner are clarifying the timeline of their deaths.—
Verb
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Video from the fire department showed crews pouring water on the house fire at 110th and State on Tuesday morning.—
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Across industries, executives are pouring unprecedented capital into data platforms, analytics, and artificial intelligence.—
Verb
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But extracting them and refining them is the difficult part.—
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To find marginal gains in performance and stand out from an increasingly homogenous field of super shoes, brands are looking beyond refining the fundamentals.—
Verb
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While heavy crude oil is what is predominantly being drilled for today, its viscous consistency and high levels of metals and sulfur mean extracting and refining this product is significantly more costly than its light crude counterpart.—
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To achieve the effect of Alma extracting the worm from Elvira’s mouth, Foldberg and his team created several silicone worm pieces and then fed them through a contraption attached to the side of Myren’s face.—
Cite this Entry
“Distilling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distilling. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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