from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Extract \Ex*tract"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Extracted}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Extracting}.] [L. extractus, p. p. of extrahere to
extract; ex out + trahere to draw. See {Trace}, and cf.
{Estreat}.]
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.
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The bee
Sits on the bloom extracting liquid sweet. --Milton.
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2. To withdraw by expression, distillation, or other
mechanical or chemical process; as, to extract an essence.
Cf. {Abstract}, v. t., 6.
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Sunbeams may be extracted from cucumbers, but the
process is tedious.
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3. To take by selection; to choose out; to cite or quote, as
a passage from a book.
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I have extracted out of that pamphlet a few
notorious falsehoods. --Swift.
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{To extract the root} (Math.), to ascertain the root of a
number or quantity.
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