Sterilize

/ˈstɛɹɪlaɪz/ · verb

Meaning

(transitive) To deprive of the ability to procreate..

Definitions by Sense

1. (transitive) To deprive of the ability to procreate.
2. (transitive) To make unable to produce; to make unprofitable.
3. (transitive, biology) To kill, deactivate (denature), or destroy (break apart) all living, viable microorganisms and spores on a surface, in a fluid, or contained in a compound, such as culture media or a medical product.
4. (transitive, astronomy) To render a planet like Earth permanently uninhabitable to all life, including even microbes, causing their complete extinction.
5. (transitive) To redact (a document), removing classified or sensitive material.

Example Sentences

If monogeny is determined exclusively by a cytoplasmic factor, then it is easy to see that the factor will either die out (if it causes arrhenogeny) or will become fixed and thereby sterilize the population (if it causes thelygeny).

In China, the issue of forced abortions has resurfaced with the allegations by escaped activist Chen Guangcheng, but the outgoing premier Wen Jiabao has publicly called for a ban not only on forced abortion, but also of “fetus gender identification.” Nevertheless, many women who have abortions in China are also sterilized against their will.

One machine in which Mr. Taylor takes special pride is a salmon canner, which engulfs a whole salmon, decapitates and decaudates it, skins it, blows out its viscera, cuts it into pieces, deposits them in the can, sterilizes them […]

The bottled juice must be heated to a temperature and for a time sufficient to attain a sterilizing temperature at the coolest point, usually the center of the bottle.

[…] (minus, of course, any information that might identify the agent and other operational personnel), or he might code it or "sterilize" it, and reward the foreign station chief in some other way.

The same phenomenon is also detectable in the records of the meetings of NATO committees: the priority of avoiding any manifestation of internal disagreements led to the production of 'sterilized' records of discussions which evidently were significantly more lively than shown in the official papers.

Synonyms for sterilize

Antonyms for sterilize

Related Words

Word Forms

• sterilizes
• sterilizing
• sterilized
• sterilise

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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