to sterilize

  • 1sterilize — 1 Sterilize, castrate, spay, emasculate, alter, mutilate, geld, caponize mean to make incapable of producing offspring. Sterilize, the most general of these terms, is applicable to both human beings and animals and is used whether the end is… …

    New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • 2Sterilize — Ster il*ize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sterilized}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sterilizing}.] [Cf. F. st[ e]riliser.] 1. To make sterile or unproductive; to impoverish, as land; to exhaust of fertility. [R.] Sterilizing the earth. Woodward. [1913 Webster] 2.… …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 3sterilize — index decontaminate Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …

    Law dictionary

  • 4sterilize — destroy the fertility of, 1690s (in reference to soil), from STERILE (Cf. sterile) + IZE (Cf. ize); of living things from 1828. Meaning render free of microorganisms is from 1878. Related: Sterilized; sterilizing …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 5sterilize — (Amer.) ster·i·lize || sterÉ™laɪz v. make sterile; decontaminate, disinfect (also sterilise) …

    English contemporary dictionary

  • 6sterilize — [v] make clean or unproductive alter, antisepticize, autoclave, castrate, change, clean, decontaminate, desexualize, disinfect, emasculate, fix, fumigate, incapacitate, make sterile, neuter, pasteurize, purify, sanitize, spay; concepts 231,250… …

    New thesaurus

  • 7sterilize — (also sterilise) ► VERB 1) make sterile. 2) deprive of the ability to produce offspring by removing or blocking the sex organs. DERIVATIVES sterilization noun …

    English terms dictionary

  • 8sterilize — [ster′ə līz΄] vt. sterilized, sterilizing to make sterile; specif., a) to make incapable of producing others of its kind, as by removing the organs of reproduction or preventing them from functioning effectively b) to make (land) unproductive c)… …

    English World dictionary

  • 9sterilize — sf., Fr. stérilisé 1) Bozulmasına yol açabilecek mikroorganizmalardan ve mayalardan sterilizasyon yöntemiyle arınmış olan (ürün vb.) Sterilize süt. Sterilize sebze. 2) Kısırlaştırılmış 3) tıp Steril Sterilize şişe. Sterilize tüp. Atasözü, Deyim… …

    Çağatay Osmanlı Sözlük

  • 10sterilize — sterilizable, adj. sterilizability, n. sterilizer, n. /ster euh luyz /, v.t., sterilized, sterilizing. 1. to destroy microorganisms in or on, usually by bringing to a high temperature with steam, dry heat, or boiling liquid. 2. to destroy the… …

    Universalium