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petrify - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'petrify' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Petrify [ v. i.]
- To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
- Fig.: To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
2 . Petrify [ v. t.]
- To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance.
- To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young.

Meaning of 'petrify' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . petrify [ v]
Meaning (1):
- cause to become stonelike or stiff or dazed and stunned from fright
Example in sentence:
  • Fear petrified her thinking;
  • The horror petrified his feelings
Meaning (2):
- make rigid and set into a conventional pattern
Example in sentence:
  • ossified teaching methods;
  • rigidify the training schedule;
  • slogans petrify our thinking
Meaning (3):
- change into stone
Example in sentence:
  • the wood petrified with time

Nearby Words:

pet petal petala petaled petaliferous petaliform petaline petalism petalite petalody

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