What does sterile mean?

Definitions for sterile
ˈstɛr ɪl; esp. Brit. -aɪlster·ile

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word sterile.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. sterile, unfertile, infertileadjective

    incapable of reproducing

    "an infertile couple"

  2. aseptic, sterileadjective

    free of or using methods to keep free of pathological microorganisms

    "a sterile operating area"; "aseptic surgical instruments"; "aseptic surgical techniques"

  3. sterile, unimaginative, uninspired, uninventiveadjective

    deficient in originality or creativity; lacking powers of invention

    "a sterile ideology lacking in originality"; "unimaginative development of a musical theme"; "uninspired writing"

Wiktionary

  1. sterileadjective

    Unable to reproduce (or procreate).

  2. sterileadjective

    Unprofitable.

  3. sterileadjective

    Germless; free from all living or viable microorganisms.

  4. Etymology: From sterilis. See also στεῖρα.

ChatGPT

  1. sterile

    Sterile generally means free from living microorganisms, bacteria, or other forms of life often through a process of sterilization. It can also refer to an organism or environment that is incapable of producing offspring or new growth.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Sterileadjective

    producing little or no crop; barren; unfruitful; unproductive; not fertile; as, sterile land; a sterile desert; a sterile year

  2. Sterileadjective

    incapable of reproduction; unfitted for reproduction of offspring; not able to germinate or bear fruit; unfruitful; as, a sterile flower, which bears only stamens

  3. Sterileadjective

    free from reproductive spores or germs; as, a sterile fluid

  4. Sterileadjective

    fig.: Barren of ideas; destitute of sentiment; as, a sterile production or author

  5. Etymology: [F. strile, L. sterilis, akin to Gr. stereo`s stiff, solid, stei^ros barren, stei^ra a cow that has not calved, Goth. stair, fem., barren. See Stare to gaze.]

Wikidata

  1. Sterile

    Devoid of living organisms.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Sterile

    ster′il, adj. unfruitful: barren: (bot.) producing no pistil, or no spores: destitute of ideas or sentiment.—n. Sterilisā′tion, act of sterilising.—v.t. Ster′ilise, to cause to be fruitless: to destroy bacteria or other micro-organisms in.—ns. Ster′iliser, anything which sterilises; Steril′ity, quality of being sterile: unfruitfulness, barrenness, in regard to reproduction. [O. Fr.,—L. sterilis, barren.]

Entomology

  1. Sterile

    not capable of reproducing its kind.

Anagrams for sterile »

  1. leister

  2. retiles

How to pronounce sterile?

How to say sterile in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of sterile in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of sterile in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of sterile in a Sentence

  1. Leslie Walker:

    It's very shiny and clean looking and very sterile.

  2. Isaac Bashevis Singer:

    The very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect, between life and death. When literature becomes too intellectual -- when it begins to ignore the passions, the motions -- it becomes sterile, silly, and actually without substance.

  3. Thomas Farley:

    We have n’t seen a public health emergency like this in the last century, it’s time for us to rethink our assumptions, and consider options we had n’t seen before. Unlike similar efforts by other cities, the injection sites would not need City Council approval because they would be privately run. Drug-related overdose deaths began to spoke in 2015 with the presence of fetanyl, according to Philadelphia Public Health. ( Fox News) The sites would give drug addicts a safe haven to shoot up and would offer sterile injection equipment, including needles, and Naloxone. Fox News would also give referrals to treatment centers, social services clinics and wound care facilities. The idea comes as a paradigm shift in the nation’s effort to stem the tide of opioid-related deaths.Seattle and New York have been among places that have mulled similar measures, but the efforts stalled because of either legal or bureaucratic hurdles. Canada and Europe have operated similar types of facilities for the last few decades.

  4. Administrator Neffenger:

    We are reengaging with local law enforcement to ensure that they're on the lookout for anybody who might do something outside the sterile area of the airport, we're comfortable that we have a lot of procedures in place to help us identify individuals coming into the system, and, of course, identify prohibited items that you don't want to get through. But the real question is outside the sterile area, what do you know?

  5. Shanna Miko:

    If we can just do something as simple as boiling water or using sterile distilled water to reduce the risk, that’s something we’d like to share with people.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for sterile

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"sterile." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 25 Apr. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/sterile>.

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