extract Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a solution obtained by steeping or soaking a substance (usually in water)
    infusion.
  2. noun a passage selected from a larger work
    excerption; selection; excerpt.
    • he presented excerpts from William James' philosophical writings
  3. verb remove, usually with some force or effort; also used in an abstract sense
    take out; pull; pull out; pull up; draw out.
    • pull weeds
    • extract a bad tooth
    • take out a splinter
    • extract information from the telegram
  4. verb get despite difficulties or obstacles
    • I extracted a promise from the Dean for two new positions
  5. verb deduce (a principle) or construe (a meaning)
    elicit; draw out; educe; evoke.
    • We drew out some interesting linguistic data from the native informant
  6. verb extract by the process of distillation
    distil; distill.
    • distill the essence of this compound
  7. verb separate (a metal) from an ore
  8. verb obtain from a substance, as by mechanical action
    express; press out.
    • Italians express coffee rather than filter it
  9. verb take out of a literary work in order to cite or copy
    take out; excerpt.
  10. verb calculate the root of a number

WordNet

Ex*tract" transitive verb
Etymology
L. extractus, p. p. of extrahere to extract; ex out + trahere to draw. See Trace, and cf. Estreat.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Extracted; present participle & verbal noun Extracting
Definitions
  1. To draw out or forth; to pull out; to remove forcibly from a fixed position, as by traction or suction, etc.; as, to extract a tooth from its socket, a stump from the earth, a splinter from the finger.
    The bee Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet. Milton.
  2. To withdraw by expression, distillation, or other mechanical or chemical process; as, to extract an essence. Cf. Abstract, v. t., 6.
    Sunbeams may be extracted from cucumbers, but the process is tedious.
  3. To take by selection; to choose out; to cite or quote, as a passage from a book.
    I have extracted out of that pamphlet a few notorious falsehoods. Swift.
Ex"tract` noun
Definitions
  1. That which is extracted or drawn out.
  2. A portion of a book or document, separately transcribed; a citation; a quotation.
  3. A decoction, solution, or infusion made by drawing out from any substance that which gives it its essential and characteristic virtue; essence; as, extract of beef; extract of dandelion; also, any substance so extracted, and characteristic of that from which it is obtained; as, quinine is the most important extract of Peruvian bark.
  4. (Med.) A solid preparation obtained by evaporating a solution of a drug, etc., or the fresh juice of a plant; -- distinguished from an abstract. See Abstract, n., 4.
  5. (Old Chem.) A peculiar principle once erroneously supposed to form the basis of all vegetable extracts; -- called also the extractive principle. Obs.
  6. Extraction; descent. Obs. South.
  7. (Scots Law) A draught or copy of writing; certified copy of the proceedings in an action and the judgement therein, with an order for execution. Tomlins.

Webster 1913