ster ‧ il ‧ ize BrE AmE ( also sterilise British English ) /ˈsterəlaɪz, ˈsterɪlaɪz/ verb [transitive]
1 . to make something completely clean by killing any ↑ bacteria in it:
Sterilize the bottles with boiling water.
sterilized milk
sterilizing solution
2 . if a person or animal is sterilized, they have an operation to stop them producing babies
—sterilizer noun [countable] :
an electric sterilizer
—sterilization /ˌsterəlaɪˈzeɪʃ ə n, ˌsterɪlaɪˈzeɪʃ ə n $ -lə-/ noun [uncountable and countable]