| sterilize | 1. To make sterile or unproductive; to impoverish, as land; to exhaust of fertility. "Sterilizing the earth." 2. <biology> To deprive of the power of reproducing; to render incapable of germination or fecundation; to make sterile. To destroy all spores or germs in (an organic fluid or mixture), as by heat, so as to prevent the development of bacterial or other organisms. Origin: Cf. F. Steriliser. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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