v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Decocted; p. pr. & vb. n. Decocting. ] [ L. decoctus, p. p. of decoquere to boil down; de- + coquere to cook, boil. See Cook to decoct. ] 1. To prepare by boiling; to digest in hot or boiling water; to extract the strength or flavor of by boiling; to make an infusion of. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To prepare by the heat of the stomach for assimilation; to digest; to concoct. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To warm, strengthen, or invigorate, as if by boiling. [ R. ] “Decoct their cold blood.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being boiled or digested. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. décoction, L. decoctio. ] 1. The act or process of boiling anything in a watery fluid to extract its virtues. [ 1913 Webster ]

In decoction . . . it either purgeth at the top or settleth at the bottom. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An extract got from a body by boiling it in water. [ 1913 Webster ]

If the plant be boiled in water, the strained liquor is called the decoction of the plant. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

In pharmacy decoction is opposed to infusion, where there is merely steeping. Latham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A decoction. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]