/ English Dictionary |
STERILISE
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they sterilise ... he / she / it sterilises
Past simple: sterilised
-ing form: sterilising
Sense 1
Meaning:
Example:
in some countries, people with genetically transmissible disabilites are sterilized
Synonyms:
desex; desexualise; desexualize; fix; sterilise; sterilize; unsex
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "sterilise" is one way to...):
operate; operate on (perform surgery on)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sterilise"):
alter; castrate; neuter; spay (remove the ovaries of)
castrate; demasculinise; demasculinize; emasculate (remove the testicles of a male animal)
vasectomise; vasectomize (remove the vas deferens)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Derivation:
sterilisation (the act of making an organism barren or infertile (unable to reproduce))
Sense 2
Meaning:
Synonyms:
sterilise; sterilize
Classified under:
Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care
Hypernyms (to "sterilise" is one way to...):
disinfect (destroy microorganisms or pathogens by cleansing)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sterilise"):
autoclave (subject to the action of an autoclave)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something
Derivation:
sterilisation (the procedure of making some object free of live bacteria or other microorganisms (usually by heat or chemical means))
steriliser (a device for heating substances above their boiling point; used to manufacture chemicals or to sterilize surgical instruments)