transitive verb
- to draw out by effort; pull out: to extract a tooth, to extract a promise from someone
- to remove or separate (metal) from ore
- to obtain (a substance, esp. an essence or concentrate) by pressing, distilling, using a solvent, etc.: to extract juice from fruit
- to obtain as if by drawing out; deduce (a principle), derive or elicit (information, pleasure, etc.), or the like
- to copy out or quote (a passage from a book, etc.); excerpt
- Math. to compute (the root of a quantity)
Origin:
ME extracten < L extractus, pp. of extrahere, to draw out < ex-, out + trahere, to draw
noun
something extracted; specif.,
- a concentrated form, whether solid, viscid, or liquid, of a food, flavoring, etc.: beef extract
- a passage selected from a book, etc.; excerpt; quotation
- Pharmacy the concentrated substance obtained by dissolving a drug in some solvent, as ether or alcohol, and then evaporating the preparation