Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Petrify
Pet′ri-fy
(pĕt′rĭ-fī)
, Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Petrified
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Petrifying
.] 1.
To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance;
as,
. petrified
woodA river that
petrifies
any sort of wood or leaves. Kirwan.
2.
To make callous or obdurate; to transform, as by petrifaction;
“Petrifying accuracy.” as, to
. Young. petrify
the heartSir W. Scott.
And
petrify
a genius to a dunce. Pope.
A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to
petrify
your volition. G. Eliot.
The poor,
petrified
journeyman, quite unconscious of what he was doing. De Quincey.
Pet′ri-fy
,Verb.
I.
1.
To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
2.
Fig.: To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
Like Niobe we marble grow,
And
And
petrify
with grief. Dryden.
Webster 1828 Edition
Petrify
PET'RIFY
,Verb.
T.
1.
To convert to stone or stony substance; as an animal or vegetable substance. North of Quito,there is a river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves.
2.
To make callous or obdurate; as, to petrify the heart. And petrify a genius to a dunce.
3.
To fix; as, to petrify one with astonishment.PET'RIFY
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2024
petrify
petrify
English
Verb
petrified tree Kirstenbosch Cape Town
petrify (third-person singular simple present petrifies, present participle petrifying, simple past and past participle petrified)
- To harden organic matter by permeating with water and depositing dissolved minerals.
- (Can we date this quote?) Kirwan
- a river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves
- (Can we date this quote?) Kirwan
- To produce rigidity akin to stone.
- To immobilize with fright.
- (intransitive) To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
- (intransitive, figuratively) To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
- (Can we date this quote?) Dryden
- Like Niobe we marble grow, / And petrify with grief.
- (Can we date this quote?) Dryden
- (transitive, figuratively) To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrification.
- (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope
- petrify a genius to a dunce
- (Can we date this quote?) George Eliot
- A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition.
- (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope
Synonyms
- See also Wikisaurus:frighten
Translations
to harden organic matter by depositing dissolved minerals
|
|
to produce rigidity akin to stone
to immobilize with fright