sterilize
Americanverb (used with object)
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sterilizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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sterilized,
past participle, past
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sterilizing
present participle
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to destroy microorganisms in or on, usually by bringing to a high temperature with steam, dry heat, or boiling liquid.
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to destroy the ability of (a person or animal) to reproduce by removing the sexual organs or inhibiting their functions.
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to make (land) barren or unproductive.
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Informal. to delete or remove anything comprising or damaging from.
to sterilize a government document before releasing it to the press.
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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
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sterilizabilitynoun
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sterilizernoun
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presterilizeverb (used with object)
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resterilizeverb (used with object)
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self-sterilizedadjective
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sterilizableadjective
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unsterilizedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sterilizesimple
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sterilizessimple
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have sterilizedperfect
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has sterilizedperfect
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am sterilizingprogressive
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are sterilizingprogressive
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is sterilizingprogressive
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have been sterilizingperfect progressive
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has been sterilizingperfect progressive
Past
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sterilizedsimple
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had sterilizedperfect
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was sterilizingprogressive
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were sterilizingprogressive
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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
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Z for Zachariah
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This Week In Words: Current Events Vocab for January 16–22, 2021
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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:
We press that mash, sterilize it by heating, bottle it and ship it out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
Kluh’s district uses X-rays to sterilize males but there are other methods, such as using genetically modified insects or ones infected with bacteria.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2026
Hospitals use it to sterilize medical devices, and some municipalities use low levels to treat public water supplies.
From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2025
The rule from which they are seeking relief applies to a chemical known as ethylene oxide, or EtO, which is commonly used to sterilize medical devices that can’t be cleaned using steam or radiation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2025
If we wish on Earth to examine samples of Martian soil for microbes, we must, of course, not sterilize the samples beforehand.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
The lab sterilizes about 750,000 bugs per day, then chills the moths to put them to sleep and ships them off to California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2024
This innovative technology sterilizes the crops, promoting plant growth without the use of chemical fertilizers.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 27, 2024
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
It is simply a newly discovered antiseptic solution, conceived by Dr. Alexis Carrel, which sterilizes wounds and arrests infection and inflammation before they have an opportunity to spread and result in blood poisoning and death.
From A Journey Through France in War Time by Joseph G. (Joseph Green) Butler
I sterilized them, perfect for making yogurt in, to give to friends with my homemade granola.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
Huge numbers of male flies were sterilized with radiation and released into the environment.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026
That means the fish aren’t sterilized by cooking before they are packaged and sealed.
From Salon ● May 28, 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
In the bathroom two water tumblers were sealed in cellophane sacks with the words: “These glasses are sterilized for your protection.”
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
For decades, the U.S. has maintained a program in which these flies are bred in a lab, bathed in sterilizing radiation and released around Panama, which prevents the insect from creeping northward.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
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
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
And when I say cleaning out, I mean practically sterilizing the place.
From "Boy: Tales of a Childhood" by Roald Dahl
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
