GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 2 definitions

1.       
   petrified adj.
   Converted into stone.
   WordNet 1.5
   +PJC
   Converted into a mineral; as, petrified wood.
   Syn. -- mineralized.
   WordNet 1.5
   Same as terrified; as, petrified by the sight of the approaching bear.
   Syn. -- panicky, panic-stricken, panic-struck, terrified, frightened.
   WordNet 1.5
   rendered unable to act due to intense fear. petrified with fear
   Syn. -- frozen.
   PJC
   Rendered lifeless or inactive; as, an imagination petrified by habitual television viewing.
   Syn. -- frozen; ossified.
   PJC
         
       

2.       
   Petrify , v. t. [imp. & p. p. Petrified ; p. pr. & vb. n. Petrifying .] [L. petra rock, Gr. πέτρα (akin to πέτρος a stone) + -fy: cf. F. pétrifier. Cf. Parrot, Petrel, Pier.]
   To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance; as, petrified wood.
   1913 Webster
   A river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves.
   Kirwan.
   
   1913 Webster
   To make callous or obdurate; to transform, as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young. “Petrifying accuracy.”
   Sir W. Scott.
   
   1913 Webster
   And petrify a genius to a dunce.
   Pope.
   
   1913 Webster
   A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition.
   G. Eliot.
   
   1913 Webster
   To paralyze, especially with fear; to stupefy; as, she was petrified by the sight of the bear in her tent.
   PJC
   The poor, petrified journeyman, quite unconscious of what he was doing.
   De Quincey.
   
   1913 Webster