Stĕr'il-ize, v. t.

v. t. [imp. & p. p. STERILIZED; p. pr. & vb. n. STERILIZING.] [Fr. stériliser, Sp. esterilizar.] [Rare.]

1. To make sterile; to impoverish, as land; to exhaust of fertility. “Sterilizing the earth.” Woodward.
2. To deprive of fecundity, or the power of producing young.