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(), v. t.[imp. & p. p.Petrified (); p. pr. & vb. n.Petrifying ().] [L. petra rock, Gr. (akin to a stone) + -fy: cf. F. ptrifier. Cf. Parrot, Petrel, Pier.] 1. To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance. A river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves. Kirwan. 2. To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young. "Petrifying accuracy." Sir W. Scott. And petrify a genius to a dunce. Pope. The poor, petrified journeyman, quite unconscious of what he was doing. De Quincey. A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition. G. Eliot. Pet"rify v. i. 1. To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits. 2. Fig.: To become stony, callous, or obdurate. Like Niobe we marble grow, And petrify with grief. Dryden. スポンサード リンク
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