distillation

noun

dis·​til·​la·​tion ˌdi-stə-ˈlā-shən 

1

a

: the process of purifying a liquid by successive evaporation and condensation

b

: a process like distillation

gradual distillation of the truth

also : an instance of such distilling

2

: something distilled : distillate sense 2

Examples of distillation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In this context, compression techniques for LLMs have been suggested, with quantization, distillation, pruning and low-rank approximations being dominant and successful in practice. —Sam Mugel, Forbes, 5 Mar. 2025

Developers can use OpenAI’s platform for distillation, learning from the large language models that underpin products like ChatGPT. —Tim Stevens, Ars Technica, 3 Mar. 2025

Plantation gets a lot of grief from purists for aging its rum in ex-Cognac barrels owned by its parent company, Maison Ferrand, and for sweetening some of its rums after distillation. —Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 7 Feb. 2025

Knowledge Distillation Think of knowledge distillation as simplifying a textbook for a student. —Dhivya Nagasubramanian, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing distillation

• destructive distillation

Rhymes for distillation

• abdication
• aberration
• abjuration
• abnegation
• abrogation
• acceptation
• acclamation
• acclimation
• accusation
• activation
• actuation
• acylation

Kids Definition

distillation

noun

dis·​til·​la·​tion ˌdis-tə-ˈlā-shən 

: a process of heating a liquid or solid until it sends off a vapor and then cooling the vapor until it becomes liquid

Medical Definition

distillation

noun

dis·​til·​la·​tion ˌdis-tə-ˈlā-shən 

1

: a process that consists of driving gas or vapor from liquids or solids by heating and condensing to liquid products and that is used especially for purification, fractionation, or the formation of new substances

2

: something distilled