verb

• (transitive) To rid of microorganisms by cleaning or disinfecting.
• (transitive, by extension) To make something, such as a dramatic work, more acceptable by removing potentially offensive material.
• (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.
• (transitive, computing) To remove sensitive or personal data from (a database or file).
• (transitive) To revise (a document) in order to prevent identification of the sources.