ster·il·ize (st?r??-l?z?)tr.v. ster·il·ized, ster·il·iz·ing, ster·il·iz·es 1. To make free from live bacteria or other microorganisms.2. To eliminate the ability of a person or animal to produce offspring, as by altering or removing the reproductive organs.3. a. To make incapable of bearing fruit or germinating.b. To render (land) unfruitful.4. Economics To place (gold) in safekeeping so as not to affect the supply of money or credit.5. To make inoffensive or innocuous: sterilized the terminology with euphemisms.ster?i·li·za?tion (-l?-z??sh?n) n.ster?il·iz?er n.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.sterilization (?st?r?la??ze???n) or sterilisationn1. the act or procedure of sterilizing or making sterile2. the state of being sterile; sterilized conditionCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014sterilizationSurgery to prevent conception, often permanently, though some methods are reversible. See hysterectomy, tubal ligation, vasectomy.Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited