pasteurize
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to subject (milk, beer, etc) to pasteurization
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rare to subject (a patient) to pasteurism
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has pasteurizedperfect 3rd person singular
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have pasteurizedperfect
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has been pasteurizingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are pasteurizingprogressive
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pasteurizessingular 3rd person
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have been pasteurizingperfect progressive
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am pasteurizingprogressive 1st person singular
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pasteurizingparticiple
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is pasteurizingprogressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had pasteurizedperfect
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had been pasteurizingperfect progressive
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was pasteurizingprogressive singular
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pasteurizedsimple
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pasteurizedparticiple
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were pasteurizingprogressive plural
Future
Etymology
Origin of pasteurize
Explanation
To pasteurize food is to sterilize it, or heat it until harmful bacteria is killed, making it safe to eat. Most dairies pasteurize their milk before bottling it. When food producers pasteurize their products, they are making it safer for large numbers of people to eat or drink them. When they pasteurize apple cider, for example, it's heated to a certain temperature for a specific length of time and then cooled before being put in containers for sale. The word pasteurize comes from the name of the French chemist who invented this process, Louis Pasteur.
Vocabulary lists containing pasteurize
You Name It: Eponyms
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A Culinary Vocabulary Sampler
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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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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.
ATTA’s goal is to set up a full-fledged breast milk bank with the ability to pasteurize.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 1, 2024
According to Dr. Xavier, Velcorin—a chemical compound commonly used to pasteurize juice—could potentially enable the drink to be pasteurized without compromising flavor.
From Salon • Oct. 17, 2023
Then the banks thaw the milk, pool it, pasteurize it, test it, refreeze it, and send it where it’s needed.
From Slate • Feb. 9, 2022
“For them, solar cooking can reduce deforestation and soil erosion, and they can also use the cookers to pasteurize water where there’s a problem finding a potable supply.”
From The New Yorker • Sep. 23, 2019
Unless the milk is perfectly fresh, and has been handled with great care, it is safer to sterilize or pasteurize it.
From Public School Domestic Science by Hoodless, Adelaide
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.
