(~s, fossilizing, ~d)
Note: in BRIT, also use 'fossilise'
1.
If the remains of an animal or plant ~ or are ~d, they become hard and form fossils, instead of decaying completely.
The most important parts, the flowers, rarely fossilise...
The survival of the proteins depends on the way in which bones are fossilised.
...~d dinosaur bones.
VERB: V, be V-ed, V-ed
2.
If you say that ideas, attitudes, or ways of behaving have ~d or have been ~d, you are criticizing the fact that they are fixed and unlikely to change, in spite of changing situations or circumstances.
What they seem to want to do in fact is ~ the particular environment in which people live and work...
Needs change while policies ~.
VERB: V n, V disapproval
~d
...these ~d organisations.
ADJ