Emily Dickinson Lexicon

DIS-TILL', v.t.

1. To let fall in drops; to throw down in drops. The clouds distill water on the earth. The dew which on the tender grass / The evening had distilled. – Drayton.
2. To extract by heat; to separate spirit or essential oils from liquor by heat or evaporation, and convert that vapor into a liquid by condensation in a refrigeratory; to separate the volatile parts of a substance by heat; to rectify; as, to distill brandy from wine, or spirit from melasses.
3. To extract spirit from, by evaporation and condensation; as, to distill cider or melasses; to distill wine.
4. To extract the pure part of a fluid; as, to distill water.
5. To dissolve or melt. [Unusual.] Swords by the lightning's subtle force distilled. – Addison.