Meaning & use
sanitizing
Last updated
“sanitizing” is a form of “sanitize”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Cleaning something so that germs are killed or reduced to a safe level; the -ing form of sanitize.
Grammar: Takes an object: she is sanitizing the table.
Patterns
- sanitizing something
- sanitizing something with something
The cleaners are sanitizing every handle and railing in the building.
Sanitizing your hands before eating reduces the risk of illness.
He spent the afternoon sanitizing the kitchen with bleach.
verbtransitivefigurativedisapproving
Making something less shocking or unpleasant by taking out the difficult details, often to give a false picture.
Grammar: Takes an object; often used in a critical way: sanitizing history.
Patterns
- sanitizing something for someone
Critics accused the film of sanitizing the violence of the war.
Sanitizing the report made the problems look smaller than they were.
The company is sanitizing its image after the scandal.
noununcountable
The act or process of cleaning something to kill germs.
Grammar: Used as a noun after a determiner or preposition: the sanitizing of tools.
Patterns
- the sanitizing of something
Regular sanitizing of shared equipment keeps the gym safe.
The sanitizing of the pool took two hours.
Sanitizing is part of the nurses' routine.
Word forms
| infinitive | sanitize |
|---|---|
| third person singular | sanitizes |
| past tense | sanitized |
| past participle | sanitized |
Common combinations
- sanitizing wipes
- She wiped the shopping cart handle with sanitizing wipes.
- sanitizing the surface
- Sanitizing the surface after raw meat is essential.
- sanitizing hands
- Sanitizing hands takes about twenty seconds.
- sanitizing solution
- The dentist soaked the tools in a sanitizing solution.
- sanitizing history
- Teachers warned against sanitizing history for young students.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disinfecting
- Disinfecting normally means killing germs with strong chemicals, while sanitizing only needs to reduce them to a safe level.
- cleaning
- Cleaning removes dirt but may leave germs behind, so it is less thorough than sanitizing.
- sterilizing
- Sterilizing removes all living organisms, which is stricter than sanitizing and typical of medical settings.
- whitewashing
- Whitewashing, in the figurative sense, hides faults to make something look better, and it is more openly critical than sanitizing.
Opposites
Word family
- sanitize verb
- to make clean and free of germs
- sanitizer noun
- a product that kills germs
- sanitary adjective
- clean and free from germs
- sanitation noun
- public systems for clean water and waste
- sanitized adjective
- cleaned, or made less shocking
Commonly confused: sanitizing or sanitary?
sanitizing vs sanitary
Sanitary is an adjective meaning clean, while sanitizing is an action of making something clean.
Practice
The museum was criticized for ____ the story of the conflict by leaving out the most upsetting facts.
Choose one answer.
Sanitizing, used figuratively, means taking out unpleasant details to make something seem milder. Sterilizing is about killing all germs, so it does not suit a story.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “sanitizing”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.