'Decoction' definitions:

Definition of 'decoction'

(from WordNet)
noun
(pharmacology) the extraction of water-soluble drug substances by boiling

Definition of 'Decoction'

From: GCIDE
  • Decoction \De*coc"tion\, n. [F. d['e]coction, 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]