sterilize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
sterilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sterilized,
past participle, past
-
sterilizing
present participle
-
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.
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
sterilizabilitynoun
-
sterilizernoun
-
presterilizeverb (used with object)
-
resterilizeverb (used with object)
-
self-sterilizedadjective
-
sterilizableadjective
-
unsterilizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
sterilizesimple
-
sterilizessimple
-
have sterilizedperfect
-
has sterilizedperfect
-
am sterilizingprogressive
-
are sterilizingprogressive
-
is sterilizingprogressive
-
have been sterilizingperfect progressive
-
has been sterilizingperfect progressive
Past
-
sterilizedsimple
-
had sterilizedperfect
-
was sterilizingprogressive
-
were sterilizingprogressive
-
had been sterilizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sterilize
Explanation
When you sterilize something, you make it completely clean and free from any contaminant. It's important to sterilize tools, hands, and furniture in hospitals so germs don't get spread between patients. People who make their own jam and pickles need to sterilize the jars first, and when you feed a tiny baby it's important to sterilize the bottles. Whenever you need to make sure something is as clean as possible, you should sterilize it. The earliest meaning of sterilize is still in use, too: to "make infertile," or to make it impossible for an organism to reproduce or have a baby.
Vocabulary lists containing sterilize
Everything, Everything
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Z for Zachariah
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 16–22, 2021
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
We press that mash, sterilize it by heating, bottle it and ship it out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Hospitals use it to sterilize medical devices, and some municipalities use low levels to treat public water supplies.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2025
“In this case, it is possible that Cesium-137 food irradiators were used in the processing facilities which are being used to sterilize food and instruments,” Vetter said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2025
We cannot even think much about how to sterilize water before drinking it, because there is no cooking gas and no wood to light a fire.
From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2024
Once she’d sterilized the cubicle, she lit a Bunsen burner and used its flame to sterilize test tubes and a used scalpel blade, since the Gey lab couldn’t afford new ones for each sample.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
He noted that one machine his team is working on — a smart steamer that sterilizes soil — can be used near schools, where people don’t want “nasty chemical stuff.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2024
"It wipes out the bacteria -- sterilizes the culture with a single dose of light. And then when you look at what occurs with electron microscopy, you see the collapse of the chromosome."
From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2023
She also sterilizes the empty jars in the oven before filling, but doesn’t believe it’s necessary to sterilize the bands or lids beforehand.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 26, 2021
Circulating at 380 degrees, this steam not only heats the buildings, saving the cost of bulky on-site boilers, but also sterilizes the hospitals’ surgical instruments.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 14, 2019
"She is simply mad on the subject of germs, and sterilizes or filters everything in the house."
From More Toasts by Marion Dix Mosher
Another group of eight aging mice served as controls and received sterilized fecal material instead.
From Science Daily ● May 9, 2026
All of his belongings, including his favorite blanket, were sterilized.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Releasing sterilized males involves no pesticides, and also leverages the insect’s biology: Males in lust are adept at finding females.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2026
One theory was that a specific piece of equipment—a drill that Acer used on all the patients—wasn’t properly sterilized.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2025
Across the toilet seat a strip of paper bore the message: “This seat has been sterilized with ultraviolet light for your protection.”
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
The most effective strategy involved sterilizing about 22% of adult female koalas each year in areas with the highest population densities rather than applying the approach across the entire region.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 8, 2026
Germaphobic parents will appreciate the UV sterilizing glovebox, if not want to crawl in themselves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 8, 2026
She chased away fishermen and was sued for sterilizing a neighbor’s goat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2025
Because when doctors and dentists practiced universal precautions—like wearing gloves and properly sterilizing their equipment—there was almost no risk of HIV transmission.
From Slate ● Jun. 25, 2025
Nonetheless, suggestions are heard here and there that these sterilizing chemicals might be applied as aerial sprays — for example, to coat the foliage chewed by gypsy moth larvae.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
