Sterile
adjective
Free from bacteria or other living microorganisms.
The wound was cleaned and dressed with sterile bandages
Often appears as...
- sterile conditions
- sterile bandages
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
Not able to produce children or young.
Some diseases can make a person sterile
Often appears as...
- sterile male
- sterile female
adjective
Lacking in imagination, creativity, or excitement.
His sterile mind could not comprehend the poetic beauty of the scene
Often appears as...
- sterile mind
- sterile imagination
Usage tips
Disapproving
Colloquial
adjective
Not involving the fusion of gametes.
Sterile flowers are those which do not produce seeds
Often appears as...
- sterile flower
- sterile seeds
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
Not producing or incapable of producing offspring.
In some cases, cattle become sterile as a result of certain diseases
Often appears as...
- sterile cattle
- sterile animal
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
Free from bacteria or other living microorganisms.
The wound was cleaned and dressed with sterile bandages
Often appears as...
- sterile conditions
- sterile bandages
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
Not able to produce children or young.
Some diseases can make a person sterile
Often appears as...
- sterile male
- sterile female
adjective
Lacking in imagination, creativity, or excitement.
His sterile mind could not comprehend the poetic beauty of the scene
Often appears as...
- sterile mind
- sterile imagination
Usage tips
Disapproving
Colloquial
adjective
Not involving the fusion of gametes.
Sterile flowers are those which do not produce seeds
Often appears as...
- sterile flower
- sterile seeds
Usage tips
Technical
adjective
Not producing or incapable of producing offspring.
In some cases, cattle become sterile as a result of certain diseases
Often appears as...
- sterile cattle
- sterile animal
Usage tips
Technical
Definition 1 of 5
Pro Tip 1/2Medical Cleanliness
Used for environments or tools that must have no microbes to prevent infection.
After the surgery, all instruments are kept in a sterile container.
Pro Tip 2/2Not Just Clean
'Sterile' implies a higher level of cleanliness than just 'clean' in medical contexts.
Surgeons wash their hands until they are sterile, not just clean.
Pro Tip 1/2Medical Cleanliness
Used for environments or tools that must have no microbes to prevent infection.
After the surgery, all instruments are kept in a sterile container.
Pro Tip 2/2Not Just Clean
'Sterile' implies a higher level of cleanliness than just 'clean' in medical contexts.
Surgeons wash their hands until they are sterile, not just clean.
Pro Tip 1/2Medical Cleanliness
Used for environments or tools that must have no microbes to prevent infection.
After the surgery, all instruments are kept in a sterile container.
Pro Tip 2/2Not Just Clean
'Sterile' implies a higher level of cleanliness than just 'clean' in medical contexts.
Surgeons wash their hands until they are sterile, not just clean.
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Video examples
Concrete Tent PIPE I Didn't...
that weight it's amazing isn't it the speed with which this technology can be used may allow huge improvements in how the world reacts to humanitarian crises a concrete canvas building has good thermal properties so whatever's inside is kept either cool or warm and it can even provide a sterile environment for
Video examples
Beyond the edge of the...
coming out of here they're so hot they're sterile nothing can live there okay so it cares about that except that sometimes often in fact most places they're leaky and we see things like bacteria okay bacteria well these are actually pre specials because you can see those there's no microscope here
Video examples
What's below the tip of...
many people think that these slabs of ice are barren of life, but these seemingly sterile ice slabs also harbor their own complex ecosystems and they shape the ecosystems that they pass through. They become mobile, floating ecosystems. Even in the coldest seas, icebergs are always melting,
Video examples
Termite Queen Lays...
imagine you're the queen you're attended by millions of sterile worker termites who live to feed you groom you and carry your eggs away when you lay them you aren't acting helpless because you
Video examples
Her Majesty, The Termite...
imagine you're the queen you're attended by millions of sterile worker termites who live to feed you groom you and carry your eggs away when you lay them you aren't acting helpless because you
Video examples
Best Of Animal Teamwork...
a few weeks after the eggs were laid the first tiny pale workers emerged from these silky cocoons all ant workers are female and sterile unable to reproduce
Video examples
Mating frenzies, sperm...
our victorious queen begins aiding her colony in its primary reproduction. For the next several years, the colony only produces sterile workers.
Video examples
Best Of Ants PIPE BBC Earth
and sterile unable to reproduce themselves their sole purpose in life is to serve the queens they darken as their bodies become harder
Video examples
5 Reasons Ants Are...
all ant workers are female and sterile unable to reproduce themselves their sole purpose in life is to serve the queens
Video examples
Michael Pritchard: How...
There we go. Mind the electrics. That is safe, sterile drinking water. Cheers. There you go Chris.
Video examples
Concrete Tent PIPE I Didn't...
that weight it's amazing isn't it the speed with which this technology can be used may allow huge improvements in how the world reacts to humanitarian crises a concrete canvas building has good thermal properties so whatever's inside is kept either cool or warm and it can even provide a sterile environment for
Video examples
Beyond the edge of the...
coming out of here they're so hot they're sterile nothing can live there okay so it cares about that except that sometimes often in fact most places they're leaky and we see things like bacteria okay bacteria well these are actually pre specials because you can see those there's no microscope here
Video examples
What's below the tip of...
many people think that these slabs of ice are barren of life, but these seemingly sterile ice slabs also harbor their own complex ecosystems and they shape the ecosystems that they pass through. They become mobile, floating ecosystems. Even in the coldest seas, icebergs are always melting,
Video examples
Termite Queen Lays...
imagine you're the queen you're attended by millions of sterile worker termites who live to feed you groom you and carry your eggs away when you lay them you aren't acting helpless because you
Video examples
Her Majesty, The Termite...
imagine you're the queen you're attended by millions of sterile worker termites who live to feed you groom you and carry your eggs away when you lay them you aren't acting helpless because you
Video examples
Best Of Animal Teamwork...
a few weeks after the eggs were laid the first tiny pale workers emerged from these silky cocoons all ant workers are female and sterile unable to reproduce
Video examples
Mating frenzies, sperm...
our victorious queen begins aiding her colony in its primary reproduction. For the next several years, the colony only produces sterile workers.
Video examples
Best Of Ants PIPE BBC Earth
and sterile unable to reproduce themselves their sole purpose in life is to serve the queens they darken as their bodies become harder
Video examples
5 Reasons Ants Are...
all ant workers are female and sterile unable to reproduce themselves their sole purpose in life is to serve the queens
Video examples
Michael Pritchard: How...
There we go. Mind the electrics. That is safe, sterile drinking water. Cheers. There you go Chris.
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Deborah Moggach
English Writer
Bringing my two children up while writing was just a part of life. I'd much rather have had their interruptions than been stuck in a sterile office. This way, I had welcome distractions. I had to load the washing machine, I had to go out and buy lemons.
Quote examples
Isaac Bashevis Singer
American Novelist
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 emotions - it becomes sterile, silly, and actually without substance.
Quote examples
Polykarp Kusch
German Scientist
Indeed science alone may perhaps be sterile when pursued without an understanding of the world in which scientific knowledge is created and in which the fruits of science are used.
Quote examples
Abbie Hoffman
American Activist
Become an internationalist and learn to respect all life. Make war on machines. And in particular the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that guard them.
Quote examples
Naftali Bennett
Israeli Politician
I know that 'boots on the ground' is a scary phrase and that the Western world has gotten used to sterile attacks.
Quote examples
Marcel Wanders
Dutch Designer
I want to create a world with objects and surroundings that are human, more romantic, and less sterile.
Quote examples
Ed Koch
American Politician
Have you ever lived in the suburbs? It's sterile. It's nothing. It's wasting your life.
Quote examples
Charles Baudelaire
French Poet
Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?
Quote examples
Alan Alda
American Actor
I wouldn't live in California. All that sun makes you sterile.
Quote examples
John Torode
Australian Chef
There's nothing worse than a sterile house.
Quote examples
Deborah Moggach
English Writer
Bringing my two children up while writing was just a part of life. I'd much rather have had their interruptions than been stuck in a sterile office. This way, I had welcome distractions. I had to load the washing machine, I had to go out and buy lemons.
Quote examples
Isaac Bashevis Singer
American Novelist
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 emotions - it becomes sterile, silly, and actually without substance.
Quote examples
Polykarp Kusch
German Scientist
Indeed science alone may perhaps be sterile when pursued without an understanding of the world in which scientific knowledge is created and in which the fruits of science are used.
Quote examples
Abbie Hoffman
American Activist
Become an internationalist and learn to respect all life. Make war on machines. And in particular the sterile machines of corporate death and the robots that guard them.
Quote examples
Naftali Bennett
Israeli Politician
I know that 'boots on the ground' is a scary phrase and that the Western world has gotten used to sterile attacks.
Quote examples
Marcel Wanders
Dutch Designer
I want to create a world with objects and surroundings that are human, more romantic, and less sterile.
Quote examples
Ed Koch
American Politician
Have you ever lived in the suburbs? It's sterile. It's nothing. It's wasting your life.
Quote examples
Charles Baudelaire
French Poet
Who would dare assign to art the sterile function of imitating nature?
Quote examples
Alan Alda
American Actor
I wouldn't live in California. All that sun makes you sterile.
Quote examples
John Torode
Australian Chef
There's nothing worse than a sterile house.
Example 1 of 10
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