n. A chanting; recitation or reading with musical modulations. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. capillatio the hair. ] A capillary blood vessel. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. cavillation, L. cavillatio. ] Frivolous or sophistical objection. [ Obs. ] Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. distillation, L. destillatio. ] 1. The act of falling in drops, or the act of pouring out in drops. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That which falls in drops. [ R. ] Johnson [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Chem.) The separation of the volatile parts of a substance from the more fixed; specifically, the operation of driving off gas or vapor from volatile liquids or solids, by heat in a retort or still, and the condensation of the products as far as possible by a cool receiver, alembic, or condenser; rectification; vaporization; condensation; as, the distillation of illuminating gas and coal, of alcohol from sour mash, or of boric acid in steam. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The evaporation of water, its condensation into clouds, and its precipitation as rain, dew, frost, snow, or hail, is an illustration of natural distillation. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The substance extracted by distilling. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Destructive distillation (Chem.), the distillation, especially of complex solid substances, so that the ultimate constituents are separated or evolved in new compounds, -- usually requiring a high degree of heat; as, the destructive distillation of soft coal or of wood. --
Dry distillation, the distillation of substances by themselves, or without the addition of water or of other volatile solvent; as, the dry distillation of citric acid. --
Fractional distillation. (Chem.) See under Fractional. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Distillation. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

An exudation or extillation of petrifying juices. Derham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state of being reduced to fibers. Carpenter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. floccus a flock of wool. Cf. Flock of wool. ] (Med.) A delirious picking of bedclothes by a sick person, as if to pick off flocks of wool; carphology; -- an alarming symptom in acute diseases. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Comfort; support. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. illatio, fr. illatus, used as p. p. of inferre to carry or bring in, but from a different root: cf. F. illation. See 1st In-, and Tolerate, and cf. Infer. ] The act or process of inferring from premises or reasons; perception of the connection between ideas; that which is inferred; inference; deduction; conclusion. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fraudulent deductions or inconsequent illations from a false conception of things. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. instillatio: cf. F. instillation. ] The act of instilling; also, that which is instilled. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Lapilli. ] The state of being, or the act of making, stony. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ See Mouillé. ] (Phon.) The act of uttering the sound of a mouillé letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ob (see Ob-) + sigillum a seal. ] A sealing up. [ Obs. ] Maunder. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. oscillatio a swinging. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. The act of oscillating; a swinging or moving backward and forward, like a pendulum; vibration. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fluctuation; variation; change back and forth. [ 1913 Webster ]

His mind oscillated, undoubtedly; but the extreme points of the oscillation were not very remote. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Axis of oscillation,
Center of oscillation. See under Axis, and Center. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. pestillum, L. pistillum. See Pestle. ] The act of pounding and bruising with a pestle in a mortar. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. pistillum a pestle. ] The act of pounding or breaking in a mortar; pestillation. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ LL. postillatio. ] The act of postillating; exposition of Scripture in preaching. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Restoration of strength by refreshment. [ Obs. ] Middleton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. scintillatio: cf. F. scintillation. ] 1. The act of scintillating. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A spark or flash emitted in scintillating. [ 1913 Webster ]

These scintillations are . . . the inflammable effluences discharged from the bodies collided. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. suggillatio: cf. F. suggillation. ] A livid, or black and blue, mark; a blow; a bruise. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. titillatio: cf. F. titillation. ] 1. The act of tickling, or the state of being tickled; a tickling sensation. A. Tucker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any pleasurable sensation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those titillations that reach no higher than the senses. Glanvill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. vacillatio: cf. F. vacillation. ] 1. The act of vacillating; a moving one way and the other; a wavering. [ 1913 Webster ]

His vacillations, always exhibited most pitiably in emergencies. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Unsteadiness of purpose; changeableness. [ 1913 Webster ]

There is a vacillation, or an alternation of knowledge and doubt. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. vexillatio. ] (Rom. Antiq.) A company of troops under one vexillum. [ 1913 Webster ]