STERILIZE

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (verb)

Verb forms

Present simple: I / you / we / they sterilize ... he / she / it sterilizes

Past simple: sterilized

Past participle: sterilized

-ing form: sterilizing

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make infertile

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 "sterilize" is one way to...):

operate; operate on (perform surgery on)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sterilize"):

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:

sterilization (the act of making an organism barren or infertile (unable to reproduce))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make free from bacteria

Synonyms:

sterilise; sterilize

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "sterilize" is one way to...):

disinfect (destroy microorganisms or pathogens by cleansing)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sterilize"):

autoclave (subject to the action of an autoclave)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sterilization (the procedure of making some object free of live bacteria or other microorganisms (usually by heat or chemical means))

sterilizer (a device for heating substances above their boiling point; used to manufacture chemicals or to sterilize surgical instruments)