GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

last match results

Found 2 definitions

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

2.       
   Petrify (pĕtrĭfī), 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.]
   1. 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]
   
   
   2. 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.
   
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   A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition. G. Eliot.
   
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   3. 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]