Word.ws English Dictionary

germ-free

germ-free adjective: without any (especially harmful) microorganisms; aseptic.

Adjective

germ-free (not comparable)

  1. Without any (especially harmful) microorganisms; aseptic.
  2. Specifically, pertaining to an animal with no microorganisms living in or on it, used in gnotobiotic research.
    • It is worth being cautious: many studies show associations rather than cause and effect, and some are based only on studies in germ-free mice and have not been explored in humans.2018, Nicola Davis, The Guardian, 256 March

Forms of germ-free

alternative formgermfree

Origin of germ-free

From germ + -free.

Questions about germ-free

What does germ-free mean?
Germ-free means without any (especially harmful) microorganisms; aseptic.
What part of speech is germ-free?
Germ-free is an adjective.

Words near germ-free in the dictionary

  1. germ theory
  2. germ theory of disease
  3. germ tube
  4. germ tubes
  5. germ warfare
  6. germ-free
  7. germ-histories
  8. germ-history
  9. germ-plasm
  10. germ-ridden
  11. Germ.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: germ-free (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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