Sterile Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary (original) (raw)

Britannica Dictionary definition of STERILE

[more sterile; most sterile]

1

:

not able to produce crops or plants

• sterile soil/fields

2

a

:

not able to produce children, young animals, etc.

• Mules are sterile.
• sterile offspring

b

:

not able to grow or develop

• sterile eggs

3

:

clean and free of bacteria and germs

• a sterile dressing for a wound
• sterile needles

4

:

not producing or containing new ideas, useful results, etc.

• a sterile debate/subject

5

:

very plain and not interesting or attractive

• a sterile building/room

— sterility

/stəˈrɪləti/

noun

[noncount]

• a disease that causes sterility
• emotional/creative sterility