sterilization

{{wiktionary|sterilization|sterilisation}}

Sterilization may refer to:

• Sterilization (microbiology), killing or inactivation of micro-organisms
• Soil steam sterilization, a farming technique that sterilizes soil with steam in open fields or greenhouses
• Sterilization (medicine) renders a human unable to reproduce
• Neutering is the surgical sterilization of animals
• Irradiation induced sterility is used in the sterile insect technique
• A chemosterilant is a chemical compound that causes sterility
• Sterilization (economics), central bank operations aimed at neutralizing foreign exchange operations' impact on domestic money supply, or offset adverse consequences of large capital flows
• A very severe enough extinction event that permanently renders a planet like Earth completely uninhabitable to even microbial life.