PETRIFIED

PETRIFY

petrify

(verb) cause to become stonelike or stiff or dazed and stunned from fright; ā€œThe horror petrified his feelingsā€; ā€œFear petrified her thinkingā€

rigidify, ossify, petrify

(verb) make rigid and set into a conventional pattern; ā€œrigidify the training scheduleā€; ā€œossified teaching methodsā€; ā€œslogans petrify our thinkingā€

lapidify, petrify

(verb) change into stone; ā€œthe wood petrified with timeā€

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Adjective

petrified (comparative more petrified, superlative most petrified)

Extremely afraid.

Synonyms

• See afraid

Verb

petrified

simple past tense and past participle of petrify

Source: Wiktionary


PETRIFY

Pet"ri*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Petrified; p. pr. & vb. n. Petrifying.] Etym: [L. petra rock, Gr. -fy: cf. F. pƩtrifier. Cf. Parrot, Petrel, Pier.]

1. To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance. A river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves. Kirwan.

2. To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young. "Petrifying accuracy." Sir W. Scott. And petrify a genius to a dunce. Pope. The poor, petrified journeyman, quite unconscious of what he was doing. De Quincey. A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition. G. Eliot.

Pet"ri*fy, v. 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 petrify with grief. Dryden.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

6 October 2024

DATELESS

(adjective) of such great duration as to preclude the possibility of being assigned a date; ā€œdateless customsā€


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Coffee Trivia

In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.

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