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
Words Nearby sterilize
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use sterilize in a sentence
With one type of immunity, called sterilizing immunity, the virus never gets a chance to begin replicating and never infects a cell.
We still don’t know what COVID-19 immunity means or how long it lasts | Erin Garcia de Jesus | October 19, 2020 | Science NewsWhen you’re able to do that and you can sterilize the environment, you’re going to have a better opportunity with a smaller group like that to limit the spread of the virus.
The NBA bubble was a one-of-a-kind COVID-19 success story | Kate Baggaley | October 15, 2020 | Popular-ScienceBanks were ordered to sterilize notes using either heat or UV light and then store the notes for 14 days before releasing the money into circulation.
COVID-19 can survive up to 28 days on phone screens and money, new research shows | eamonbarrett | October 12, 2020 | FortuneThe most extreme example was where the polio vaccine was said to be a plot to sterilize women in Nigeria in 2003.
When Bill Gates thinks we’ll have a COVID-19 vaccine—and why that won’t be the end of the pandemic | cleaf2013 | September 21, 2020 | FortuneWhen scientists figured out an efficient way to tweak a fruit fly’s natural DNA, reported in 1982, hopes rose for genetically sterilizing male pest insects.
Genetically modified mosquitoes have been OK’d for a first U.S. test flight | Susan Milius | August 22, 2020 | Science News
The effort to sterilize his image first began when Epstein hired Los Angeles-based spin doctors Sitrick Co.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking | M.L. Nestel | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThe pro-Palestinian group held up one ugly poster: Israelis sterilize Blacks.
‘The Gatekeepers,’ Brooklyn College BDS Forum: Week of Israel Debate | Gail Sheehy | February 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTHaving the jars, covers, and rings in perfect condition, the next thing is to wash and sterilize them.
If bottles are employed, be very careful to sterilize both bottles and corks.
In canning sauce fill the jars with the hot sauce and sterilize 12 minutes in hot-water bath.
A Little Preserving Book for a Little Girl | Amy WatermanIf soft ripe, sterilize 16 minutes in hot-water bath; if flesh is very firm, 25 minutes.
A Little Preserving Book for a Little Girl | Amy WatermanThen keep up a temperature that will allow the food to boil quietly for a period long enough to cook it soft and sterilize it.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 5 | Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
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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