Petrify — Defs

01 v. t. To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance; as, petrified wood.

imp. & p. p. Petrified; p. pr. & vb. n. Petrifying

1.
To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance; as, petrified wood.
“A river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves.” — Kirwan.
2.
To make callous or obdurate; to transform, as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young.
“And petrify a genius to a dunce.” — Pope.

“A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition.” — G. Eliot.
3.
To paralyze, especially with fear; to stupefy; as, she was petrified by the sight of the bear in her tent.
“The poor, petrified journeyman, quite unconscious of what he was doing.” — De Quincey.

02 v. i. To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.

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.