sanitize

• sanitise

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsænətaɪz/, /ˈsænɪtaɪz/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

sanitize (third-person singular simple present sanitizes, present participle sanitizing, simple past and past participle sanitized)

1. (transitive) To rid of microorganisms by cleaning or disinfecting.
2. (transitive, by extension) To make something, such as a dramatic work, more acceptable by removing potentially offensive material.

   Near-synonym: bowdlerize

   • 2007 November 4, Stephen L. Carter, “Almost a Gentleman”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     And yet for all that, the filmmakers were in fact trying to sanitize Mitchell’s novel.

3. (transitive, computing) To filter (text) to ensure it does not contain any characters that will cause problems for or be interpreted in an adverse way by the receiving system.

   Remember to sanitize your query parameters to avoid SQL injection exploits.

4. (transitive, computing) To remove sensitive or personal data from (a database or file).
5. (transitive) To revise (a document) in order to prevent identification of the sources.

• sanitizer

• sanitary
• sanitation

• satinize