GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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Found 2 definitions

1.       
   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.
   
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   To make callous or obdurate; to transform, as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young. “Petrifying accuracy.”
   Sir W. Scott.
   
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   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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   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.
   
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2.       
   Petrify, v. i.
   To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
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   Fig.: To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
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   Like Niobe we marble grow,
   And petrify with grief.
   Dryden.
   
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