verb · neutral
sanitize
UK/ˈsænɪtaɪz/US/ˈsænəˌtaɪz/SAN·i·tize
to make something clean and free from bacteria; to remove parts that are unpleasant or politically sensitive
Examples
“Hospitals must sanitize equipment between patients.”
“The report was sanitized before publication to remove sensitive details.”
“People are advised to sanitize their hands frequently during outbreaks.”
Band 8 sentence
“Public health campaigns emphasized the need to sanitize high-touch surfaces to limit viral spread.”
Collocations
- sanitize hands
- sanitize surfaces
- sanitize data (figurative)
Word family
Common mistakes
We need sanitize the hands frequently.→We need to sanitize our hands frequently.
The data was sanitize before release.→The data was sanitized before release.
Say it for a higher band
5clean→6disinfect→7+sanitize
Synonyms
disinfect
Easily confused
disinfect
“Public health advice recommends disinfecting surfaces and sanitizing hands regularly.”
Related words
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In -ize
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