destructive distillation

noun

The heating of a material, such as coal or wood, in an inert atmosphere, at a high temperature such as to cause decomposition; the principal products include oils and tars from which many useful organic compounds may be obtained; town gas and coke were obtained in this way.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

noundestructive distillation (countable and uncountable, plural destructive distillations)

plural destructive distillations

  1. countablephysicaluncountablechemistryThe heating of a material, such as coal or wood, in an inert atmosphere, at a high temperature such as to cause decomposition; the principal products include oils and tars from which many useful organic compounds may be obtained; town gas and coke were obtained in this way.
Cite this entry
APA

destructive distillation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/destructive%20distillation

MLA

“destructive distillation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/destructive%20distillation. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “destructive distillation,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/destructive%20distillation.

Source: destructive distillation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.