ˈ ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ˌfī verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle French petrifier, from petr- + -fier -fy
transitive verb
1. : to convert into stone ; specifically : to convert (organic matter) into stone or a substance of stony hardness through the infiltration of water containing dissolved mineral matter
2. : to make hard, rigid, or inert like or as if like stone:
a. : to make lifeless or inactive : deaden
slogans are apt to petrify a man's thinking — Saturday Review
his independence had not petrified his sympathies — Times Literary Supplement
b. : to confound with fear, amazement, or awe : paralyze , stupefy
the original purpose of the aboriginal objects was to petrify uninitiated members of the tribe — T.H.Robsjohn-Gibbings
is petrified of talking in public — Alan Frank
intransitive verb
1. : to become stone or a substance of stony hardness
2. : to become hard, rigid, or inert like or as if like stone
principles and rules … have petrified with the accumulated weight of precedent on precedent — B.N.Cardozo
her face had petrified into the fearsome pioneer resolution of unremitting housewifery — Nigel Dennis
Synonyms: see daze