sanitize

Verb

sanitize (third-person singular simple present sanitizes, present participle sanitizing, simple past and past participle sanitized)

1. (transitive) To rid of microorganisms by cleaning or disinfecting.
2. (broadly, transitive) To make something, such as a dramatic work, more acceptable by removing potentially offensive material.
   • Near-synonym: bowdlerize
   • And yet for all that, the filmmakers were in fact trying to sanitize Mitchell’s novel.2007 November 4, Stephen L. Carter, “Almost a Gentleman”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms:

   bowdlerize

3. (transitive) To filter (text) to ensure it does not contain any characters that will cause problems for or be interpreted in an adverse way by the receiving system.
   • Remember to sanitize your query parameters to avoid SQL injection exploits.
4. (transitive) To remove sensitive or personal data from (a database or file).
5. (transitive) To revise (a document) in order to prevent identification of the sources.