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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

(Biol.)

The act or process of sterilizing, or rendering sterile; also, the state of being sterile.

sterilization ‎(countable and uncountable, plural sterilizations)

(uncountable) The process of treating something to kill or inactivate microorganisms.
Heat sterilization is used during canning so the food can be safely stored for long periods.
(uncountable) A procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing.
Spaying a cat is a form of sterilization to limit the population growth.
(countable) an instance of a sterilization procedure
The vet performed several sterilizations this week.
(uncountable) A monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention.
The Federal Reserve is responsible for foreign exchange sterilization.

process of treating something to kill microorganisms

Italian: sterilizzazione (it) f
Japanese: 殺菌 (ja) ‎(さっきん, sakkin), 消毒 (ja) ‎(しょうどく, shodoku)
Korean: 멸균 (ko) ‎(myeolgyun), 균깡그리죽이기 ‎(gyunkkanggeurijugigi) (North)
Portuguese: esterilização (pt) f
Romanian: sterilizare (ro) f, sterilizație f
Russian: стерилиза́ция (ru) f ‎(sterilizácija), обеззара́живание (ru) n ‎(obezzaráživanije)
Spanish: esterilización f
Swedish: sterilisering c

procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing

instance of a sterilization procedure

monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention