sterilize
to destroy microorganisms in or on, usually by bringing to a high temperature with steam, dry heat, or boiling liquid.
to destroy the ability of (a person or animal) to reproduce by removing the sexual organs or inhibiting their functions.
to make (land) barren or unproductive.
Informal. to delete or remove anything comprising or damaging from: to sterilize a government document before releasing it to the press.
Informal. to isolate or completely protect from unwanted, unauthorized, or unwholesome activities, attitudes, influences, etc.: You can't sterilize children against violence.
Origin of sterilize
1- Also especially British, ster·i·lise .
Other words from sterilize
- ster·i·liz·a·ble, adjective
- ster·i·liz·a·bil·i·ty, noun
- ster·i·liz·er, noun
- pre·ster·i·lize, verb (used with object), pre·ster·i·lized, pre·ster·i·liz·ing.
- re·ster·i·lize, verb (used with object), re·ster·i·lized, re·ster·i·liz·ing.
- self-ster·i·lized, adjective
- un·ster·i·lized, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sterilize in a sentence
The sides, etc., are generally hinged so that the cage packs up flat, for convenience of storing and also of sterilising.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique | John William Henry EyreNo subject has been left so free from what is supposed to be the sterilising influence of examinations as divinity.
Cambridge Essays on Education | VariousOne of the most remarkable of these is the system of hot baths and the sterilising of clothing.
Canada in Flanders, Volume I (of 3) | Lord Max Aitken BeaverbrookThese sterilising conditions were aggravated by another feature of the situation which had an important bearing on social life.
The Englishman in China During the Victorian Era, Vol. II (of 2) | Alexander MichieTo gather and catalogue bare facts could not be the scope of science; such labour could result only in sterilising the mind.
Pedagogical Anthropology | Maria Montessori
British Dictionary definitions for sterilize
sterilise
/ (ˈstɛrɪˌlaɪz) /
(tr) to render sterile; make infertile or barren
Derived forms of sterilize
- sterilizable or sterilisable, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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