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sterilize

verb

Definition of sterilizenext
as in to alter

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sterilize Always sterilize your tools before pruning to prevent spreading diseases and avoid removing too many green leaves at once. — Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 26 June 2026 Boiling Clothes Won't Get Them Cleaner In the past, when options for doing laundry were more limited, boiling fabrics to sterilize and clean them was a common practice. — Jolie Kerr, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 June 2026 Researchers raise the flies by the millions, sterilize the males with radiation, and release them in overwhelming numbers. — Ethan Stone, AZCentral.com, 17 June 2026 Scientists irradiate male flies to sterilize them, then release them by the million. — Gretchen Wittenmyer-Stone, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 16 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for sterilize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sterilize
  1. alter
  2. neuter
  3. castrate
  4. emasculate
  5. fix
Verb
  • Defects alter electron behavior The images revealed massive differences depending on the number of defects present.
    — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The lawsuit, and Gibson, allege that only a judge can alter the certified election results and that the secretary of state’s office improperly intervened to overturn results.
    — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of alter
Verb
  • Caring for them opened the couple’s eyes to the number of cats living outdoors in their neighborhood and how few had been spayed or neutered.
    — Meg Dunn, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The city, however, maintains that failing to microchip or spay or neuter a dog violates city ordinances but falls short of abuse.
    — Sandra McDonald, Los Angeles Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of neuter
Verb
  • This is the league, remember, where a man (Harvey Updyke) confessed to poisoning the trees at Auburn on a radio show after Alabama lost to the Tigers, and a coach (Jackie Sherrill at Mississippi State) castrated a bull to motivate his squad.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Those expectations got castrated because of last season’s early struggles.
    — Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 24 July 2026
Definition of castrate
Verb
  • Under Republican control, the House of Representatives has been emasculated.
    — Linh Tat, Oc Register, 5 May 2026
  • No matter what agenda the president espoused—the economic pragmatism of Rafsanjani, the liberal aspirations of Mohammad Khatami, the populist provocations of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the nuclear diplomacy of Hassan Rouhani—Khamenei emasculated him.
    — Karim Sadjadpour, The Atlantic, 28 Feb. 2026
Definition of emasculate
Verb
  • There is a particular sort of helplessness that comes from knowing exactly how to fix a computer while being hundreds of miles away from it.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Definitions are useful in subjects like mathematics, whose components are fixed enough to stay put.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of fix

Browse Nearby Words

sterility
sterilize
sterilized
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Cite this Entry

“Sterilize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sterilize. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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