unsterilized

adjective

un·​ster·​il·​ized ˌən-ˈster-ə-ˌlīzd How to pronounce unsterilized (audio)
: not made sterile : not sterilized
unsterilized needles
an unsterilized instrument

Examples of unsterilized in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web It can also be transmitted through sharing personal care items (like a razor or toothbrush) or getting a tattoo or piercing from unsterilized equipment. Julia Ries, SELF, 21 June 2023 Out-of-control children were dosed with adult tranquilizers, administered through unsterilized needles, while many who fell ill received transfusions of unscreened blood. Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 21 Dec. 2020 Wollstonecraft was later to die in tragic irony, at the unsterilized hands of the male surgeon who delivered her second daughter, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, a genius who manifested her mother’s bioethical themes in the novel of the era, Frankenstein. Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 19 Nov. 2020 The disease often results from cutting the umbilical cord with an unsterilized instrument, introducing the microbe into a susceptible wound. Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 29 Sep. 2015 The aim is to slow the spread of diseases like hepatitis C that can spread when inmates try to tattoo themselves or each other with unsterilized tools like electric motors and ballpoint pens and share contaminated needles. From Usa Today Network and Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 18 Apr. 2022 Animal shelters across the country have been battling a deacades-long pandemic of sorts dealing with the consequences of unvaccinated and unsterilized pets, from surrenders of pets to animal shelters to the needless euthanasia of homeless pets. Cathy M. Rosenthal, San Antonio Express-News, 16 Sep. 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unsterilized.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1909, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unsterilized was circa 1909

Dictionary Entries Near unsterilized

Cite this Entry

“Unsterilized.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unsterilized. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.

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