autoclave
Americannoun
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a heavy vessel for conducting chemical reactions under high pressure.
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Medicine/Medical, Bacteriology. an apparatus in which steam under pressure effects sterilization.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a strong sealed vessel used for chemical reactions at high pressure
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an apparatus for sterilizing objects (esp surgical instruments) or for cooking by means of steam under pressure
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civil engineering a vessel in which freshly cast concrete or sand-lime bricks are cured very rapidly in high-pressure steam
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of autoclave
1875–80; < French, equivalent to auto- auto- 1 + clave < Latin clāv-, stem of clāvis key and clāvus nail
Explanation
An autoclave is a piece of medical equipment that's used to sterilize tools and instruments. After a dentist examines your teeth, she'll put her dental tools in an autoclave to clean them for the next patient. An autoclave uses high pressure and extremely hot steam to sterilize instruments. It's a vital piece of equipment in a hospital or a lab, since autoclaves make it easy to ensure that medical tools are completely clean and sterile. In French, autoclave means "self-locking," from auto-, "self, and the Latin clavis, "key."
Vocabulary lists containing autoclave
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for March 26–April 1, 2022
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This Week In Words, July 18–24, 2020
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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.
See Examples For:
In one of Halt's buildings they have a huge machine called an autoclave, consisting mainly of two large horizontal tubes.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2025
She transferred and adhered the nanotube forest in between the two middle layers of the composite, then cooked the material in an autoclave to cure.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 16, 2024
They carried out three trials per jar, sterilizing the containers in an autoclave before each trial.
From Scientific American ● May 16, 2023
At first, it carried the thrill of a secret world: The office building was locked — just me and the janitors and the whir of the autoclave.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2022
While he explained to her that his job was building runways in the fields of northern France, his eyes kept returning to the steel forceps she had collected from the autoclave.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Currently, aerospace composites are cured in pressurised ovens called autoclaves, which devour space and energy.
From Reuters ● Jul. 4, 2023
Dr. Degroot’s paper details many of the findings from inspections and tests that revealed gloveboxes and sterilizing autoclaves that cracked, leaked or flooded.
From New York Times ● Jun. 9, 2023
They bought their own equipment — autoclaves, rats for experiments — and ordered fetal tissue from a company called StemExpress to implant in rats.
From The Verge ● Mar. 5, 2019
To fix the plant’s troubles, Pfizer decided to replace production lines and other technology, particularly huge equipment-sterilizing machines called autoclaves that can take two years to build, install and test.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 27, 2018
Then it is charged into autoclaves and steam at high temperature and pressure is admitted.
From Creative Chemistry Descriptive of Recent Achievements in the Chemical Industries by Slosson, Edwin E.
It was found, along with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, in scores of school across England in 2022 to 2023.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2025
They have all found reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, known as RAAC, which has affected numerous public buildings including about 150 schools in England.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2023
The material, which is known as reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete, or RAAC, is lighter and less expensive than standard reinforced concrete — but weaker, with a useful life of about 30 years.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 6, 2023
The government says the “vast majority” of schools are not affected by problems with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 4, 2023
They are then raised inside sterile isolators, on autoclaved food and filtered air.
From Nature ● Oct. 13, 2015
Flushing, says Smith, is preferable to storing the waste in a separate container and then autoclaving the contents.
From Time ● Dec. 2, 2014
Unlike viruses and bacteria, prions are extremely hardy, and cannot be destroyed by normal decontamination methods, such as autoclaving of surgical instruments.
From BBC ● Mar. 29, 2011
Tissues obtained at postmortems can also be used after preliminary sterilisation by boiling or autoclaving.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by Eyre, J. W. H. (John William Henry)
After use the jars and tripods are sterilised either by chemical reagents or by autoclaving.
From The Elements of Bacteriological Technique A Laboratory Guide for Medical, Dental, and Technical Students. Second Edition Rewritten and Enlarged. by Eyre, J. W. H. (John William Henry)
An improved starch solution may be prepared by autoclaving 2 g. of starch and 6 g. of boric acid dissolved in 200 cc. water at 15 lbs. pressure for 15 min.
From Soap-Making Manual A Practical Handbook on the Raw Materials, Their Manipulation, Analysis and Control in the Modern Soap Plant. by Thomssen, E. G.
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.
