Wordnet 3.0
VERB (1)
1.
become putrid;
decay with an offensive smell;
- Example: "organic matter putrefies"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Putrefy \Pu"tre*fy\, v. t. [Written also putrify.] [imp. & p. p.
Putrefied; p. pr. & vb. n. Putrefying.] [F. putr['e]fier;
L. putrere to be rotten + -ficare (in. comp.) to make; cf. L.
putrefacere. See Putrid, and -fy.]
1. To render putrid; to cause to decay offensively; to cause
to be decomposed; to cause to rot.
[1913 Webster]
2. To corrupt; to make foul.
[1913 Webster]
Private suits do putrefy the public good. --Bacon.
[1913 Webster]
They would but stink, and putrefy the air. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. To make morbid, carious, or gangrenous; as, to putrefy an
ulcer or wound.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Putrefy \Pu"tre*fy\, v. i.
To become putrid; to decay offensively; to rot. --Isa. 1. 6.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
putrefy
v 1: become putrid; decay with an offensive smell; "organic
matter putrefies"