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sterile - 7 dictionary results
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Sterile Definition
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ster⋅ile

  [ster-il or, especially Brit., -ahyl]
Use sterile in a Sentence
–adjective
1. free from living germs or microorganisms; aseptic: sterile surgical instruments.
2. incapable of producing offspring; not producing offspring.
3. barren; not producing vegetation: sterile soil.
4. Botany.
a. noting a plant in which reproductive structures fail to develop.
b. bearing no stamens or pistils.
5. not productive of results, ideas, etc.; fruitless.
Origin:
1545–55; < L sterilis unfruitful

Related forms:
ster⋅ile⋅ly, adverb
ste⋅ril⋅i⋅ty  [stuh-ril-i-tee] , ster⋅ile⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. infecund, unfruitful.

Antonyms:
2, 3. fertile.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ster·ile   (stěr'əl, -īl')   
adj.  
  1. Not producing or incapable of producing offspring.
    1. Not producing or incapable of producing seed, fruit spores, or other reproductive structures. Used of plants or their parts.
    2. Producing little or no vegetation; unfruitful: sterile land.
  3. Free from live bacteria or other microorganisms: a sterile operating area; sterile instruments.
  4. Lacking imagination, creativity, or vitality.
  5. Lacking the power to function; not productive or effective; fruitless: a sterile discussion.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sterilis.]
ster'ile·ly adv., ster'ile·ness, ste·ril'i·ty (stə-rĭl'ĭ-tē) n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Sterile

Ster"ile\, a. [F. st['e]rile, L. sterilis, akin to Gr. stereo`s stiff, solid, stei^ros barren, stei^ra a cow that has not calved, Goth. stair[=o], fem., barren. See Stare to gaze.]

1. Producing little or no crop; barren; unfruitful; unproductive; not fertile; as, sterile land; a sterile desert; a sterile year.

2. (Biol.) (a) Incapable of reproduction; unfitted for reproduction of offspring; not able to germinate or bear fruit; unfruitful; as, a sterile flower, which bears only stamens. (b) Free from reproductive spores or germs; as, a sterile fluid.

3. Fig.: Barren of ideas; destitute of sentiment; as, a sterile production or author.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sterile
Italian: sterile,
German: unfruchtbar,
Japanese: 不妊の
More Translations »

sterile 
1426, "barren" (implied in sterility), from M.Fr. stérile "not producing fruit," from L. sterilis "barren, unproductive," from PIE *ster- "sterile, barren" originally "stiff, rigid" (cf. Gk. steresthai "be deprived of," steira "sterile," stereos "firm, solid, stiff, hard;" Skt. starih "a barren cow;" O.C.S. sterica "a barren cow;" Goth. stairo "barren;" O.N. stirtla "a barren cow"). See torpor. Originally in Eng. with ref. to soil; of females, from 1535. The sense of "sterilized" is first recorded 1877. Sterilize "destroy the fertility of" is from 1695 (in ref. to soil); of living things from 1828. Meaning "render free of microorganisms" is from 1878. Sterilization is from 1874.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: ster·ile
Pronunciation: 'ster-&l, chiefly Brit -"Il
Function: adjective
1 : failing to produce or incapable ofproducing offspring sterile hybrid> —compare INFERTILE
2 : free from livingorganisms and especially microorganisms sterile cyst> —ster·ile·ly /-&l-(l)E/ adverb —ste·ril·i·ty /st&-'ril-&t-E/ noun plural -ties
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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sterile ster·ile (stěr'əl, -īl')
adj.

  1. Not producing or incapable of producing offspring.
  2. Free from all live bacteria or other microorganisms and their spores.
ster'ile·ness or ste·ril'i·ty (stə-rĭl'ĭ-tē) n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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sterile   (stěr'əl, stěr'īl')  Pronunciation Key 
  1. Not able to produce offspring, seeds, or fruit; unable to reproduce.
  2. Free from disease-causing microorganisms.

sterility noun (stə-rĭl'ĭ-tē)
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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