extract; refine; abstract
Meanings
2 senses · 6 examplesverb
to extract; to refine; to purify
Literally used in chemistry, metallurgy, or engineering to describe the process of obtaining a pure substance from a raw material.
Many products such as gasoline and diesel can be refined from petroleum.
This factory extracts precious metals from ore.
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Modern technology can extract essential oils from plants more efficiently.
verb
to abstract; to distill; to summarize (knowledge, experience)
Used metaphorically to describe the process of deriving general principles, theories, or essential knowledge from a large amount of information or experience. Often marked with "◇" in dictionaries.
Scientific theories are distilled from countless experimental data.
He abstracted a set of effective methods from his years of management experience.
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The success of this work lies in its ability to distill profound philosophy from ordinary life.