Definition of "distillation" []

• The evaporation and subsequent collection of a liquid by condensation as a means of purification: the distillation of water. (noun)
• The extraction of the volatile components of a mixture by the condensation and collection of the vapors that are produced as the mixture is heated: petroleum distillation. (noun)
• A distillate. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The process of separating a mixture of volatile substances by distillation is known as _fractional distillation_."
• "As the canal passing into the mountain runs over the beds of coals, and under the reservoir of petroleum, it appears that a _natural distillation_ of this fossil in the bowels of the earth must have taken place at some early period of the world, similar to the artificial distillation of coal, which has many years been carried on in this place on a smaller scale above ground."
• "This distillation is a rigorous expression of the particular knowledge that has been found most relevant."