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sterilize
[ ster-uh-lahyz ]
verb (used with object)
- 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.
sterilize
/ ˈɛɪˌɪ /
verb
- tr to render sterile; make infertile or barren
Derived Forms
- ˈٱˌ, adjective
Other 51Թ Forms
- ٱi·a· adjective
- ٱi·a·i·ٲ noun
- ٱi·e noun
- ·ٱi· verb (used with object) presterilized presterilizing
- ·ٱi· verb (used with object) resterilized resterilizing
- -ٱi· adjective
- ܲ·ٱi· adjective
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of sterilize1
Example Sentences
The easiest way to kill off the tardigrades, the researchers argue, would be to sterilize the entire planet, adding 5.6 × 1026 J of energy to make the oceans boil off.
Under such a paradigm history must be sterilized of analysis and ultimately atomized into unrelated instances to make an eternal present, divorced from any transformative potential.
An experimental program seeks to protect California almond trees from a pesky moth by using X-rays to sterilize the insects.
The curious calico and her orange tomcat friend, Monu, had recently been sterilized and returned to the market.
But with limited budgets and climate change threatening to make the pest situation worse, researchers are studying another yet-to-be-proven approach: sterilizing almost a million moths a day with radiation and dropping them out of planes.
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