sterile
/ˈstɛrəl/
adjective
- Completely free from bacteria or other living microorganisms; hygienically clean.
- All baby bottles must be kept sterile to prevent infection.
- The laboratory maintains a sterile environment for experiments.
- The surgeon used sterile gloves during the operation.
- Unable to produce children, young, or offspring; infertile.
- The treatment left him sterile, but it saved his life.
- The couple learned that the male partner was sterile.
- Some hybrid animals, like mules, are sterile and cannot reproduce.
- Lacking in imagination, creativity, or excitement; dull or unproductive.
- The debate felt sterile, with both sides repeating old arguments.
- After years of the same routine, his art became sterile and lifeless.
- The meeting was sterile and no new ideas were shared.
- (of land or soil) Unable to support plant growth; barren.
- The desert soil is too sterile for farming.
- They tried to grow crops on the sterile hillside but failed.
- After the volcanic eruption, the landscape remained sterile for decades.
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