📖 D — The English dictionary · page 42

distil — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: To let fall in tiny drops, or to make something pure by heating and cooling it.↗ Example: My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew; as the small rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb.↗ (Torah DEU.32.2, JPS 1917)↗ · For He draweth away the drops of water, which distil rain from His vapour; (Writings JOB.36.27, JPS 1917)↗

distill — Everyday, meaning 1: To make a liquid pure by heating it into steam (vapour) and cooling the steam back into liquid.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To make a drink like whisky this way.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To take the most important parts of an idea or text and put them in a short form.↗ Example: We distilled salty water to get pure water.↗ · Distilled water is used in car batteries and irons.↗ · Whisky is distilled in Scotland and Ireland.↗ · Can you distill the story into one sentence?↗ · The steam cooled in the tube and became distilled water.↗ · The teacher helped us distill our ideas into a poster.↗ · Perfumes are made by distilling flowers.↗ · Your majesty is well aware that I sometimes amuse myself by distilling very powerful medicines.↗

distillation — Everyday, meaning 1: Distillation is a way of making a liquid pure by heating it until it turns into vapour (gas), then cooling the vapour so it turns back into liquid and collecting it.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A distillation is the most important part of something, kept after the rest is taken away.↗ Example: Distillation can turn sea water into drinking water.↗ · In distillation, the water evaporates and then condenses.↗ · The salt is left behind after distillation.↗ · Distilled water is very pure.↗ · We watched a distillation experiment in the science lab.↗ · Fractional distillation separates crude oil into different fuels.↗ · Her talk was a distillation of years of study.↗

distinct — Everyday, meaning 1: Clearly different or separate from something else: two distinct groups.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Easy to see, hear, smell or notice; clear: a distinct smell of smoke.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Definite; real: a distinct chance of rain.↗ Example: Choose three distinct numbers that add up to 10.↗ · A frog and a toad are distinct animals.↗ · There was a distinct smell of burning toast.↗ · Her voice was clear and distinct.↗ · There is a distinct chance of snow tonight.↗ · The two words sound alike but have distinct meanings.↗ · How many distinct letters are in the word «banana»?↗ (3: b, a, n)↗ · They may be divided into three distinct classes, viz., water, mountain, and tree or wood nymphs.↗

distinction — Everyday, meaning 1: A distinction is a clear difference between two things.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A distinction is a high mark or grade for excellent work.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Distinction is being special or excellent: a writer of distinction.↗ Example: What is the distinction between a frog and a toad?↗ · She passed her music exam with distinction.↗ · We must make a distinction between fact and opinion.↗ · He had the distinction of being the youngest player.↗ · The distinction between the twins was hard to see.↗ · (formal) Candidates achieving distinction will receive a certificate.↗ · But let me find, when you enjoy honor and distinction, that you possess a grateful heart.”↗ · The Samaritans still to this day preserve a tradition allowing Resh to occur in both single and double forms, bearing a distinction comparable to the difference between the Spanish single r of pero and double rr of perro.]↗ Taw-Thaw.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation)↗

distinctive — Everyday, meaning 1: Easy to recognise because it is different from others; special to one person or thing.↗ Example: The zebra has distinctive black and white stripes.↗ · Grandad has a very distinctive laugh.↗ · The robin is easy to spot with its distinctive red breast.↗ · The house had a distinctive blue door.↗ · Garlic has a distinctive smell.↗ · Each fingerprint has a distinctive pattern.↗ · It is necessary to keep clearly in view the distinctive difference between the three great earth-goddesses Gaea, Rhea, and Demeter.↗

distinctly — Everyday, meaning 1: Clearly and easily heard, seen or remembered, as in «speak distinctly».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Very definitely, without doubt, as in «I distinctly remember locking the door».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Noticeably, quite, as in «It was distinctly cold».↗ Example: Please speak distinctly so everyone can hear.↗ · I distinctly remember putting my keys on the table.↗ · The bell rang distinctly across the playground.↗ · It was distinctly colder after the sun went down.↗ · The two twins have distinctly different voices.↗ · She looked distinctly annoyed.↗ · And inside it he distinctly heard a tiny voice say: “Bow-wow!”↗ · And they read in the book, in the Law of God, distinctly; and they gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.↗ (Writings NEH.8.8, JPS 1917)↗

distinguish — Everyday, meaning 1: To see or understand the difference between two or more things: «distinguish between right and wrong».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To be able to see, hear or notice something clearly: «I could just distinguish a shape.».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To be the thing that makes someone or something different: «Its long neck distinguishes the giraffe.».↗ Everyday, meaning 4: «Distinguish yourself» means do something very well so people notice and respect you.↗ Example: Can you distinguish between a frog and a toad?↗ · It was too dark to distinguish the path.↗ · Learn to distinguish fact from opinion.↗ · Its black and white fur distinguishes the panda from other bears.↗ · She distinguished herself by winning every race.↗ · The twins are so alike it's hard to distinguish them.↗ · A scam email can be hard to distinguish from a real one.↗ · ‘How am I to distinguish this awful thing when I see it?’↗ · Instead, the SY may be intimating a twofold pronunciation of Resh known among certain mediveal Jewish communities in Babylonia and elsewhere, which does indeed preserve a distinguish between ‘single’ Resh and ‘double’ Resh.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation)↗ · Goodness distinguishes evil and evil distinguishes goodness; goodness is kept for the good and evil is kept for the evil.↗ [6:3] Three, but each one stands alone.↗ 7 divided: Three opposite Three, with an edict deciding between them.↗ (Sefer Yetzirah, Sefaria community translation)↗

distinguished — Everyday, meaning 1: Distinguished means famous and respected because of important work: «a distinguished scientist».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Distinguished means looking important and dignified, often an older person.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (verb) If you distinguished one thing from another, you saw or showed the difference between them.↗ Example: A distinguished writer visited our school.↗ · Please welcome our distinguished guests.↗ · Grandpa looks distinguished in his grey suit.↗ · Can you distinguish a frog from a toad?↗ · The twins could hardly be distinguished from each other.↗ · She had a distinguished career as a doctor.↗ · And who were these distinguished guests?↗ · "The Deity, it is thought by some, was distinguished by the P3'thagoreans as absolute unity, from unity conceived."↗ {A (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914))↗ · Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the presidents and the satraps, because a surpassing spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.↗ (Writings DAN.6.4, JPS 1917)↗

distort — Everyday, meaning 1: To change the shape of something so it looks twisted or wrong, as in a fun-house mirror that distorts your face.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To change facts or words so they give a false idea, as in «distort the truth».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: To change a sound so it is unclear or crackly.↗ Example: The curved mirror distorted my face.↗ · The newspaper distorted what the mayor said.↗ · Water distorts the look of a pencil in a glass.↗ · The speaker was too loud and distorted the music.↗ · Maps distort the size of Greenland.↗ · Don't distort the facts to win an argument.↗ · As she looked across the sea, all there grew darker; a heavy mist came rolling onwards, and clung to bush and tree, distorting them into fantastic shapes.↗

distorted — Everyday, meaning 1: Twisted or changed out of its normal shape.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: (sound, picture) Changed so that it is unclear or not true to the original, like a crackly sound or a wobbly reflection.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: Changed so that it gives a false idea, like distorted facts.↗ Example: The fun-house mirror made my face look distorted.↗ · The speaker crackled and the music was distorted.↗ · A straw in water looks bent and distorted.↗ · The newspaper distorted what the mayor had said.↗ · Heat made the plastic ruler distorted.↗ · Her voice sounded distorted on the bad phone line.↗ · A distorted map can make some countries look bigger than they are.↗ · Their countenances were so distorted that no one could recognize them, and even one freckle on the face appeared to spread over the whole of the nose and mouth.↗ · A man shall be commended according to his intelligence; but he that is of a distorted understanding shall be despised.↗ (Writings PRO.12.8, JPS 1917)↗ · Let the proud be put to shame, for they have distorted my cause with falsehood; but I will meditate in Thy precepts.↗ (Writings PSA.119.78, JPS 1917)↗

distortion — Everyday, meaning 1: Distortion is when the shape, sound or picture of something is twisted or stretched so it looks or sounds wrong.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A distortion of the truth or facts is a version that changes them so they give a false idea.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: In music, distortion is a rough, buzzing sound effect used on electric guitars.↗ Example: The funhouse mirror caused a funny distortion of our faces.↗ · The water made a distortion so the pencil looked bent.↗ · The loud speaker gave the music a crackly distortion.↗ · Saying I broke it on purpose is a distortion of what happened.↗ · A graph that does not start at zero can create a distortion.↗ · The guitarist turned on the distortion pedal.↗ · Heat over the road made a wobbly distortion in the air.↗ · All the other commentaries mentioned above, together with all quotations of other expounders of the same book, contain nothing but a medley of arbitrary, mystical explanations and sophistical distortions of scriptural verses, astrological notions, oriental (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877)↗

distract — Everyday, meaning 1: To take someone's attention away from what they should be doing or looking at.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: To make someone stop thinking about something sad or painful by getting them interested in something else.↗ Example: The noise outside distracted me from my maths.↗ · Don't distract the bus driver.↗ · I get distracted when the TV is on.↗ · Dad distracted the baby with a toy so she stopped crying.↗ · Put your phone away so it won't distract you when you cross the road.↗ · One thief distracted the man while another took his wallet.↗ · Try not to distract your partner during the test.↗ · He felt puzzled and anxious; so he decided to ride into the country to distract his mind, and sent for his huntsmen and falconers.↗ · I am afflicted and at the point of death from my youth up; I have borne Thy terrors, I am distracted.↗ (Writings PSA.88.16, JPS 1917)↗

distraction — Everyday, meaning 1: Something that takes your attention away from what you should be doing: «Phones are a distraction in class».↗ Everyday, meaning 2: Something fun that takes your mind off worries; an amusement.↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (formal) A state of great worry or confusion: «driven to distraction».↗ Example: Phones are a big distraction during homework.↗ · The dog barking was a distraction during the test.↗ · While Tom caused a distraction, Mia grabbed the key.↗ · Playing football was a welcome distraction from his worries.↗ · The noise from the road drives Mum to distraction.↗ · Never let anything be a distraction when you cross the road.↗ · We need a quiet room without distractions.↗

distrain — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: To seize a person's property as payment for a debt.↗ Example: Let the creditor distrain all that he hath; and let strangers make spoil of his labour.↗ (Writings PSA.109.11, JPS 1917)↗

distraught — In Jewish tradition, meaning 1: Very upset and troubled, almost out of one's mind with worry or grief.↗ Example: Attend unto me, and hear me; I am distraught in my complaint, and will moan; (Writings PSA.55.3, JPS 1917)↗ · I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; for they themselves consort with lewd women, and they sacrifice with harlots; and the people that is without understanding is distraught.↗ (Prophets HOS.4.14, JPS 1917)↗

distress — Everyday, meaning 1: Great worry, sadness or pain.↗ Everyday, meaning 2: A situation of danger where help is badly needed: «a ship in distress».↗ Everyday, meaning 3: (verb) To make someone very worried or upset.↗ Everyday, meaning 4: (verb) To make furniture or clothes look old on purpose: «distressed jeans».↗ Example: The ship sent out a distress signal.↗ · The puppy whimpered in distress.↗ · Her tears showed her distress.↗ · Seeing the injured bird distressed the children.↗ · Lifeguards help swimmers in distress.↗ · The news caused great distress to the family.↗ · The jeans are distressed to look old.↗ · Her evident distress caused the sly Fox much amusement.↗ · In thy distress, when all these things are come upon thee, in the end of days, thou wilt return to the LORD thy God, and hearken unto His voice; (Torah DEU.4.30, JPS 1917)↗ · and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.'↗ (Torah GEN.35.3, JPS 1917)↗ · And they said one to another: 'We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.'↗ (Torah GEN.42.21, JPS 1917)↗ · Nevertheless He looked upon their distress, when He heard their cry; (Writings PSA.106.44, JPS 1917)↗ · In my distress I called unto the LORD, and He answered me.↗ (Writings PSA.120.1, JPS 1917)↗ · The troubles of my heart are enlarged; O bring Thou me out of my distresses.↗ (Writings PSA.25.17, JPS 1917)↗