ossify
VerbUS[os-uh-fahy]/ˈɑsəˌfaɪ/3 syllables
Open English WordNet
Verb (3)ossified, ossifying
- become bony“The tissue ossified”More general change state, turn
- make rigid and set into a conventional pattern“rigidify the training schedule”“ossified teaching methods”“slogans petrify our thinking”Synonyms: rigidifypetrifyMore general stiffen
- cause to become hard and bony“The disease ossified the tissue”More general change, alter
Word of the day · Oct 21About this word
artificenoun
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Os′si·fy transitive verb [past tense & past participle Ossified; present participle & verbal noun Ossifying.]
Origin: L. os, ossis, bone + -fy: cf. F. ossifier. See Osseous.
1. Physiology To form into bone; to change from a soft animal substance into bone, as by the deposition of lime salts.
2. Fig.: To harden; as, to ossify the heart. John Ruskin
Os′si·fy intransitive verb
Physiology To become bone; to change from a soft tissue to a hard bony tissue.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54