antisepsis
Americannoun
noun
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destruction of undesirable microorganisms, such as those that cause disease or putrefaction Compare asepsis
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the state or condition of being free from such microorganisms
Etymology
Origin of antisepsis
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the time, Joseph Lister’s pioneering antisepsis work in Britain was known to American doctors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026
The emergence of surgery from its barbaric past rested on four pillars: the understanding of anatomy, the control of bleeding, anesthesia and antisepsis.
From New York Times ● Mar. 24, 2022
It should also be said that Lister's contribution wasn't his discovery of antisepsis; rather it was his application of germ theory to medical practice through the systematic implementation of antisepsis.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 3, 2018
Conan Doyle references Lister's use of carbolic acid for antisepsis in the 1892 story 'The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb', when Watson uses it while dressing a wound.
From Nature ● Sep. 19, 2017
In the earlier days of antisepsis, when operators and patients were exposed for some time to an atmosphere saturated with carbolic spray, toxic symptoms were occasionally noticed.
From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
