What does "sterilize" mean?

To deprive of the ability to procreate.

What is a synonym for "sterilize"?

Common synonyms include: alter, antisepticize, autoclave, boil, castrate, change.

Pronounced //ˈstɛɹɪlaɪz//.

//ˈstɛɹɪlaɪz// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Verb

1
To deprive of the ability to procreate. British, English, Oxford, US, transitive
"If monogeny is determined exclusively by a cytoplasmic factor, then it is easy to see that the factor will either die out (if it causes arrhenogeny) or will become fixed and thereby sterilize the population (if it causes thelygeny)."
2
make infertile wordnet
3
To make unable to produce; to make unprofitable. British, English, Oxford, US, transitive
4
make free from bacteria wordnet
5
To kill, deactivate (denature), or destroy (break apart) all living, viable microorganisms and spores on a surface, in a fluid, or contained in a compound, such as culture media or a medical product. British, English, Oxford, US, transitive
"One machine in which Mr. Taylor takes special pride is a salmon canner, which engulfs a whole salmon, decapitates and decaudates it, skins it, blows out its viscera, cuts it into pieces, deposits them in the can, sterilizes them […]"

Show 2 more definitions

6
To render a planet like Earth permanently uninhabitable to all life, including even microbes, causing their complete extinction. British, English, Oxford, US, transitive
7
To redact (a document), removing classified or sensitive material. British, English, Oxford, US, transitive
"[…] (minus, of course, any information that might identify the agent and other operational personnel), or he might code it or "sterilize" it, and reward the foreign station chief in some other way."

"Hospitals routinely sterilize their equipment for safety."

From sterile + -ize.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.