pasteurize

verb

pas·​teur·​ize ˈpas-chə-ˌrīz  ˈpas-tyə-  -tə- 

pasteurized; pasteurizing

transitive verb

: to subject to pasteurization

pasteurizer noun

Examples of pasteurize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many of these manufacturing processes run continuously and maintain high temperatures for weeks or months at a time, ranging from 72 °C for pasteurizing milk to over 1,000 °C for making steel or cement. —IEEE Spectrum, 30 Oct. 2025

Most dairy milk in the grocery store is pasteurized, meaning it's been heated to kill harmful bacteria. —Angela Ryan Lee, Verywell Health, 30 Oct. 2025

Drink milk or juice only if it’s pasteurized (heat-treated to kill germs). —Brandi Jones, Health, 5 Oct. 2025

Social media personas like Ballerina Farm’s Hannah Neeleman and Lauryn Bosstick of The Skinny Confidential routinely claim benefits from drinking milk that hasn’t been pasteurized. —Angie Leventis Lourgos, Chicago Tribune, 31 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Louis Pasteur

First Known Use

1881, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for pasteurize

• advertise
• aggrandize
• agonize
• alibis
• alkalies
• alkalis
• amortize
• amplifies
• analyse
• analyze
• anywise
• authorize

Kids Definition

pasteurize

verb

pas·​teur·​ize ˈpas-chə-ˌrīz  ˈpas-tə- 

pasteurized; pasteurizing

: to expose to pasteurization

pasteurizer noun

Etymology

named for Louis Pasteur 1822–1895 French chemist

Medical Definition

pasteurize

transitive verb

pas·​teur·​ize

variants also British pasteurise

ˈpas-chə-ˌrīz  ˈpas-tə- 

pasteurized also British pasteurised; pasteurizing also British pasteurising

: to subject to pasteurization

pasteurizer noun

also British pasteuriser