sanitation

noun

san·​i·​ta·​tion ˌsa-nə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: the act or process of making sanitary

2

: the promotion of hygiene and prevention of disease by maintenance of sanitary conditions (as by removal of sewage and trash)

—often used attributively

a sanitation truck

sanitation workers

Examples of sanitation in a Sentence

Diseases can spread from poor sanitation.

Recent Examples on the Web

This means that sanitation workers are city employees. —Natalie Wallington, Kansas City Star, 22 Apr. 2024

DiMaggio, who charges between five hundred and a thousand dollars per reservation, owns a sanitation business with more than forty garbage trucks. —Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 22 Apr. 2024

Failure to move over for emergency/wreckers/sanitation/utility service vehicle was also listed. —Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 21 Apr. 2024

Huizar’s new surrender date is Aug. 30. — OTHER PEOPLE’S PROPERTY: A judge found that the city of Los Angeles altered evidence to support its defense in a lawsuit alleging that sanitation workers illegally seized and destroyed homeless people’s property. —David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2024

As many as a million women and girls are estimated to have been displaced, forced to try to create a sense of home and stability in desert tents or overflowing evacuee centers where privacy is impossible and sanitation is limited. —Ghada Abdulfattah, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 Apr. 2024

That price gets you the tub, some sanitation chemicals, and not much else. —Sean Evans, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2024

The sanitation commissioner comes from one of the richest families in the country. —Eric Lach, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024

But the turmoil is also disrupting life and sparking fear among Palestinians in Jerusalem and the West Bank, where the agency provides health, education and sanitation services for the descendants of refugees. —Claire Parker, Washington Post, 8 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1848, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

sanitation

noun

san·​i·​ta·​tion ˌsan-ə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: the act or process of making sanitary

2

: the promotion of community hygiene and disease prevention especially by keeping up sewage systems, by collecting and disposing of trash and garbage, and by cleaning streets

Medical Definition

sanitation

noun

san·​i·​ta·​tion ˌsan-ə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: the act or process of making sanitary

2

: the promotion of hygiene and prevention of disease by maintenance of sanitary conditions

mouth sanitation