sterilization

Noun

sterilization (countable and uncountable, plural sterilizations)

1. (British, English, Oxford, US, 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.
2. (British, English, Oxford, US, uncountable) A procedure to permanently prevent an organism from reproducing.
   • Spaying a cat is a form of sterilization to limit the population growth.
   • One the most chilling parts of the film, which is available online, involves an appearance by Adolf Hitler. Ferrari shows how America’s sterilization policies inspired Nazi Germany’s leaders to launch their own eugenics program, which later led to genocide.2018 October 16, John Blake, “When Americans tried to breed a better race: How a genetic fitness ‘crusade’ marches on”, in CNN
3. (British, English, Oxford, US, countable) An instance of a sterilization procedure.
   • The vet performed several sterilizations this week.
   • One of the most shocking aspects of the Chinese occupation is the forced sterilization of Tibetan women. In an article on this subject, the ICLT used my photograph of a nomadic woman with her herd of goats in the Ngari region of western Tibet. In many ways this is one of the more idyllic...1999, Art Perry, The Tibetans, Viking Studio, →ISBN, pages 23–24
4. (British, English, Oxford, US, uncountable) A monetary policy operation used to offset a foreign exchange intervention.
   • The Federal Reserve is responsible for foreign exchange sterilization.
5. (British, English, Oxford, US, uncountable) The process of permanently rendering a planet like Earth completely uninhabitable to all life, including even microbes, leading to their complete extinction.
   • In about 1 billion years, the increasing heat from the Sun as it gradually ages, by triggering a runaway greenhouse effect that will boil away the oceans, will lead to the complete sterilization of all life on Earth.