petrify
petrify Lexical Profile
petrify Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To make someone so frightened or shocked that they are unable to move or think.
"The sudden roar of the approaching avalanche seemed to petrify the hikers in their tracks."
To change organic matter into a stony substance by encrusting or replacing its original material with minerals over a long period.
"Over millions of years, mineral-rich groundwater helped petrify the fallen ancient trees in the desert."
To become or cause to become rigid, stagnant, and unable to change or develop (especially of ideas, traditions, or institutions).
"Without open debate and fresh perspectives, even the most innovative academic disciplines can gradually petrify."
• Rhymes for petrify
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 16th century from Middle French pétrifier, from Medieval Latin petrificare ('to turn into stone'), formed from Latin petra ('rock', from Ancient Greek pétra) and facere ('to make').