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to decoct

to decoct

9.9
Boil a plant or herb in water to make a strong liquid
  • verb
  • /dɪˈkɒkt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : decoctar
  • Athanor yields brimstone and orpiment decocted from the bowels of the unclean.

Sunday morning pint of piss on the church steps decocting all the talk and sex of a Saturday night.

Examples

  • Before using the plant in your recipe, remember to decoct it to unlock its flavor and nutrients.

  • "The desperate pressures of the human soul, as heavy and as poisonous as mercury when they're decocted.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Ning decocted the herbs, but the boy disliked the bitter liquid.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • To prepare the herbal tea, you must decoct the dried leaves in boiling water for 15 minutes.

  • Traditional medicine often requires practitioners to decoct roots and herbs to create potent remedies.

Synonyms

to infuse
vsto decoct
19 4.1

Soak herbs or tea leaves in hot water to give their flavor

uses boiling rather than gentle soaking to concentrate essence
to steep
vsto decoct
8 3.5

To soak something in liquid to get flavor or clean it

relies on boiling instead of mere soaking to concentrate active ingredients

Antonyms

1 4.2

A liquid that is weaker after adding water

How Concentrated

to reduce
50 4.1
to decoct
  • Specialized
9.9
to simmer
92 2.5
to steep
8 3.5

Surface Forms

decoct infinitive
decocted past
decocted past participle
decocting present participle
decocts third person singular

Etymology

Decoct comes from de- 'down' and the same root as cook, from Latin coquere 'to cook', so it originally meant to 'cook down'. That's why to decoct something is to boil it to make its flavour or medicine stronger.