extract

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin extractum, neuter perfect passive participle of extrahō, from ex- (“out of”) + trahō (“I drag”).

noun

1. Something that is extracted or drawn out.
2. A portion of a book or document, incorporated distinctly in another work; a citation; a quotation.
   I used an extract of Hemingway's book to demonstrate culture shock.
3. A decoction, solution, or infusion made by drawing out from any substance that which gives it its essential and characteristic virtue
   extract of beef
   extract of dandelion
   vanilla extract
4. Any substance extracted is such a way, and characteristic of that from which it is obtained
   quinine is the most important extract of Peruvian bark.
5. A solid preparation obtained by evaporating a solution of a drug, etc., or the fresh juice of a plant (distinguished from an abstract).
6. (obsolete) A peculiar principle (fundamental essence) once erroneously supposed to form the basis of all vegetable extracts.
7. Ancestry; descent.
8. A draft or copy of writing; a certified copy of the proceedings in an action and the judgment therein, with an order for execution.

verb

1. (transitive) To draw out; to pull out; to remove forcibly from a fixed position, as by traction or suction, etc.
   to extract a tooth from its socket, a stump from the earth, or a splinter from the finger
   The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago, extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania. The first barrels of crude fetched $18 (around $450 at today’s prices). 2013-08-03, “Yesterday’s fuel”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8847
2. (transitive) To withdraw by squeezing, distillation, or other mechanical or chemical process. Compare abstract (transitive verb).
   to extract an essential oil from a plant
   Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible. Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism. 2013-06-29, “A punch in the gut”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, pages 72–3
3. (transitive) To choose out; to cite or quote, for example a passage from a text.
   I have thought it proper to extract out of that pamphlet a few of those notorious falsehoods. 1724, Jonathan Swift, “Drapier's Letters”, in 4
   As his work is probably not easily accessible to many of my readers, I shall perhaps consult their convenience by extracting his description entire. 1900, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 332
4. (transitive) To select parts of a whole
   We need to try to extract the positives from the defeat.
5. (transitive, arithmetic) To determine (a root of a number).
   Please extract the cube root of 27.