verb (used with object),ster·i·lized,ster·i·liz·ing.
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 sex 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.
Also especially British, ster·i·lise .
Origin of sterilize
First recorded in 1685–95; sterile + -ize
OTHER WORDS FROM sterilize
ster·i·liz·a·ble,adjectivester·i·liz·a·bil·i·ty,nounster·i·liz·er,nounpre·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,adjectiveun·ster·i·lized,adjective
When 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 Science
Banks 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|Fortune
The 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|Fortune
When 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|DAILY BEAST
Then sterilize your cans, and you won't have a bit of trouble.
Living on a Little|Caroline French Benton
Even when a surgeon is doing a Porro operation, his main intention may not be to sterilize the woman.
The Ethics of Medical Homicide and Mutilation|Austin O'Malley
In the field it is sometimes necessary to sterilize or filter water.
Manual of Military Training|James A. Moss
They use em to sterilize milk, killing the germs by sound waves carried through the fluid.
The Fifth-Dimension Tube|William Fitzgerald Jenkins
It is employed to sterilize water for drinking purposes on a large scale and to disinfect sewage plant effluents.
The Fundamentals of Bacteriology|Charles Bradfield Morrey