vi fig.: to become stony, callous, or obdurate.
2. petrify ·vt to convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance.
3. petrify ·vi to become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
4. petrify ·vt to make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. young.