sanitize

play

verb san·i·tize \ˈsa-nə-ˌtīz\

Definition of sanitize

sanitized

;

sanitizing

transitive verb
1 : to make sanitary (as by cleaning or sterilizing)
2 : to make more acceptable by removing unpleasant or undesired features attempts to sanitize historical accounts

sanitization

play \ˌsa-nə-tə-ˈzā-shən\ noun

See sanitize defined for English-language learners

See sanitize defined for kids

Examples of sanitize in a Sentence

The housekeeping staff sanitized the bathroom.
They're trying to sanitize the news.

Recent Examples of sanitize from the Web

The company temporarily closed the location to sanitize its surfaces and reopened on Wednesday, Ells said.

— mahita gajanan, Fortune, "Don’t Panic About Norovirus at Chipotle," 19 July 2017
Each morning, Crispin Hernandez, then a dairy worker in upstate New York, would wake up at dawn and shuffle cows one by one into milking chutes, then sanitize and massage their teats before affixing a milking machine to each udder.

— sarah maslin nir, New York Times, "New York Farmworkers to Argue in State Supreme Court for Right to Organize," 19 July 2017
Going public used to mean exposing a company to the sunshine that would sanitize its problems.

— tracey lien, latimes.com, "Companies like Uber are staying private longer. Without public market scrutiny, who's holding them accountable?," 14 July 2017
Before bottling, clean and sanitize the bottles and caps and create a priming solution of 1 cup boiling water and the priming sugar. 16.

— lorraine boissoneault, Smithsonian, "Ancient Humans Liked Getting Tipsy, Too," 10 July 2017
In other words, a normal person dealt a tough hand who reacted accordingly and didn’t, years later as an author, sanitize her behavior.

— sharon peters, USA TODAY, "Memoir: How friendship saved a heart-transplant patient," 27 June 2017
Last week Seth Rogen tweeted his objection to the studio’s new program offering sanitized edits of some of its films on home entertainment platforms.

— rebecca keegan, HWD, "A Grammy Remedy for Beyoncé?," 14 June 2017
None of the sleeping around and backstopping these women are doing is remotely shocking or titillating and it's all cloaked in VH1's basic cable standards that sanitize the language and sexuality even further.

— daniel fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Daytime Divas': TV Review," 2 June 2017
The food prep areas were sanitized and shiny, and the appliances were wiped clean.

— AL.com, "AL.com reporter goes to jail for dinner amid sheriff's food money controversy," 2 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sanitize.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of sanitize

Latin sanitas

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1836

See Words from the same year

SANITIZE Defined for English Language Learners

sanitize

play

verb

Definition of sanitize for English Language Learners

: to make (something) free from dirt, infection, disease, etc., by cleaning it : to make (something) sanitary
: to make (something) more pleasant and acceptable by taking things that are unpleasant or offensive out of it