Petrified

Petrified
Petrify Pet"ri*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Petrified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Petrifying}.] [L. petra rock, Gr. ? (akin to ? a stone) + -fy: cf. F. p['e]trifier. Cf. {Parrot}, {Petrel}, {Pier}.] 1. To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance. [1913 Webster]

A river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves. --Kirwan. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

And petrify a genius to a dunce. --Pope. [1913 Webster]

The poor, petrified journeyman, quite unconscious of what he was doing. --De Quincey. [1913 Webster]

A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition. --G. Eliot. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • petrified — [adj1] hardened calcified, fossilized, frozen, ossified, solidified; concepts 483,604 petrified [adj2] terrified afraid, alarmed, anxious, dazed, fearful, frightened, frozen, have cold feet*, immobilized, in a cold sweat*, in a panic*, numb,… …   New thesaurus

  • petrified — index ossified Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • petrified — pet|ri|fied [ˈpetrıfaıd] adj [Date: 1400 1500; : French; Origin: pétrifier, from Greek petra rock ] 1.) extremely frightened, especially so frightened that you cannot move or think petrified of ▪ I m petrified of spiders. petrified with… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • petrified — [[t]pe̱trɪfaɪd[/t]] 1) ADJ GRADED: oft ADJ of n/ ing, ADJ that If you are petrified, you are extremely frightened, perhaps so frightened that you cannot think or move. I ve always been petrified of being alone... Most people seem to be petrified… …   English dictionary

  • petrified — pet|ri|fied [ petrı,faıd ] adjective 1. ) extremely frightened, especially so that you cannot move or decide what to do: The boy just sat there petrified. petrified of: She is absolutely petrified of snakes. 2. ) SCIENCE a petrified plant or… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • petrified — UK [ˈpetrɪfaɪd] / US [ˈpetrɪˌfaɪd] adjective 1) extremely frightened, especially so that you cannot move or decide what to do petrified of: She is absolutely petrified of snakes. 2) science a petrified plant or animal has died and gradually… …   English dictionary

  • petrified — adjective 1 extremely frightened, especially so frightened that you cannot move or think: She stood there, petrified at the thought of the crowds waiting outside. 2 petrified wood/trees/insects etc wood, trees etc that have changed into stone… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • petrified — mod. alcohol intoxicated. (Literally, turned into stone. Another way of saying stoned.) □ She’s not drunk; she’s petrified. □ He drank moonshine till he was petrified …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • petrified — very frightened, scared stiff    Gigi was petrified when a spider crawled up her leg …   English idioms

  • Petrified wood — (from the Greek root petro meaning rock or stone , literally wood turned into stone ) is a type of fossil: it consists of fossil wood where all the organic materials have been replaced with minerals (most often a silicate, such as quartz), while… …   Wikipedia

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