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Webster 1913 Edition

Sterilize

Ster′il-ize

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Sterilized
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Sterilizing
.]
[Cf. F.
stériliser
.]
1.
To make sterile or unproductive; to impoverish, as land; to exhaust of fertility.
[R.]
“Sterilizing the earth.”
Woodward.

Webster 1828 Edition

Sterilize

STERILIZE

, v.t.
1.
To make barren; to impoverish, as land; to exhaust of fertility; as, to sterilize soil or land. [Little used.]
2.
To deprive of fecundity, or the power of producing young. [Little used.]

Definition 2024

sterilize

sterilize

English

Alternative forms

Verb

sterilize ‎(third-person singular simple present sterilizes, present participle sterilizing, simple past and past participle sterilized)

  1. To deprive a male or female the ability to procreate.
  2. To make unable to produce. To make unprofitable.
  3. (biology) To kill, deactivate (denature), or destroy (break apart) all living, viable microorganisms and spores that would be on a surface, in a fluid, or contained in a compound, such as culture media or a medical product.

Related terms

Translations

See also

References

  • sterilize in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

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