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Sterile

//ˈstɛɹaɪl// adj

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Unable to reproduce (or procreate). not-comparable

    "According to that Cabaliſticall Dogma: If Abram had not had this Letter [i.e., ה (he)] added unto his Name he had remained fruitleſſe, and without the power of generation: […] So that being ſterill before, he received the power of generation from that meaſure and manſion in the Archetype; and was made conformable unto Binah."

  2. 2
    Terse; lacking sentiment or emotional stimulation, as in a manner of speaking. figuratively
  3. 3
    Fruitless, uninspiring, or unproductive. figuratively
  4. 4
    Germless; free from all living or viable microorganisms.

    "a sterile kitchen table"

  5. 5
    Permanently uninhabitable (as in a planet like Earth) to all life, including even microbes.
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  1. 6
    Free from dangerous objects, as a zone in an airport that can be only be entered via a security checkpoint.
  2. 7
    Of weapons: foreign-made and untraceable to the United States. US

    "An early CIA decision was to bring war surplus in Europe to the United States, rather than let it fall into the hands of left-wing movements. Some of the guns would also, it was reasoned, be useful as "sterile" weapons (foreign-made and untraceable to the United States) to be provided secretly to foreign friends."

Adjective
  1. 1
    deficient in originality or creativity; lacking powers of invention wordnet
  2. 2
    incapable of reproducing wordnet
  3. 3
    free of or using methods to keep free of pathological microorganisms wordnet

Etymology

From Middle French stérile, from Latin sterilis (“barren, futile”). See also Ancient Greek στεῖρα (steîra).

See also for "sterile"

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