Learn English – What does “fringe meeting” mean exactly

Typically, if you "meet with someone," you already know the person, and you are setting up an arranged time to talk.

To "meet someone" usually means to greet them for the first time.

The use is essentially what you describe, "difference between something and everything else," with a note that "everything else" is usually bit more specific.

For example, "Jim looked out the window of the moving car and saw a variety of large buildings dotting the landscape, each with a large mural facing the road. One had a picture of an octopus. Another had a picture of helicopter. Jim didn't know what they all meant, except for one, which had the picture of a happy cow. Jim distinguished it as an old dairy." Here the context implies that Jim is distinguishing this building from the rest of the buildings. He does this by identifying it as an old dairy, whereas he could not identify the other buildings.

Occasionally, this may be used without substantial context, if the context is heavily implied. For example, "Jim was distinguished as the most creative child in school." In this case, it's implied that Jim was distinguished as a creative child from the other children by his creativity, even though the other children weren't explicitly mentioned.