sterilize

Other forms of sterilize

past tense

sterilized·

present participle

sterilizing·

third person

sterilizes·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about sterilize

What does sterilize mean?

sterilize means "make free from bacteria". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in sterilize?

sterilize has 3 syllables: ster-i-lize. The stress falls on "ster". In IPA it is /ˈstɛɹəˌlaɪz/.

What is another word for sterilize?

Close synonyms include sterilise, sterilise, desex, unsex, desexualize. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is sterilize a common word?

sterilize is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

What rhymes with sterilize?

83 words rhyme with sterilize. Rhymes are matched on the phonemes from the last stressed vowel onward, which is the definition a reader has in their head.