sterile environment
4
3.9
- noun
- /ˈstɛrəl ɪnˈvaɪrənmənt/
- Specialized
- Before surgery, the doctor ensured that the instruments were kept in a sterile environment to prevent any infections.
- create a sterile environment
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Watch on YouTubeThe only place in a hospital that a service dog is not allowed is in a surgical or sterile environment.
- The only place in a hospital that a service dog is not allowed is in a surgical or sterile environment.
Examples
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Usually, if we have a sterile environment and then something happens to it, such as a virus or bacterium, the whole system becomes infected and begins to have very serious problems.
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She's in a clean room, a sterile environment with strict isolation protocols.
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You are now leaving the safe, sterile environment of our home.
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This is a sterile environment.
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The aim is not to create a sterile environment but a hygienically safe one.
Academic text (2011) -
Navy women serve in such diverse environments as the industrialized ships in the tender and repair classes and the sterile environment of an operating room.
Academic text (1992) -
You live in an almost sterile environment, where there are virtually no people who'll transmit diseases to you.
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Open heart surgery requires surgery 100% of the time, which requires medication, anesthesia, a completely sterile environment, tools, and trained surgeons—aka a hospital.
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They are also used in war zones, where troops are whisked from the frontlines to recuperate in sterile environments.
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I don't think you can compare the cold and flu to HPV, as preventing exposure to HPV is realistically a lot easier due to its mode of transmission, while with the flu and common cold there is no reasonably easy way to prevent transmission other than isolation in a sterile environment.
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Synonyms
7
6.4
A room where people keep the air and surfaces very clean for making microchips and other sensitive equipment
Antonyms
How Sterile
- Specialized
4
3.9
- Specialized
7
6.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an environment that is completely clean and free from microorganisms' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'sterile' (aseptic, germ-free) with 'environment' (the surrounding conditions). This is a straightforward adjective+noun compositional pattern common across languages and domains, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The phrase sterile environment comes from hospitals and labs where people make a room so clean that no germs can live there. Here sterile means 'without germs' and environment means the place, so the phrase now means a place completely free of germs.