verb

disinfect

dihs-ihn-FEHKT

verb

To clean something thoroughly enough to kill the germs on it.

"Nurses disinfect the equipment between patients."

"Remember to disinfect the kitchen counter after handling raw chicken."

How to Use Disinfect

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishTo kill germs on a surface or object using a cleaning product.

Common mistake

Disinfecting kills most germs; sterilizing kills essentially all of them — the words aren't perfectly interchangeable in medical contexts.

Easily confused with

sanitize sterilize →

Common pairings

disinfect a wound disinfect surfaces disinfect your hands

disinfected past tense, disinfects singular

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Can you complete this real example?

Nurses _____ the equipment between patients.

From dis- ("undo") plus infect, echoing the French désinfecter — literally "to remove infection from."

infect