ossify

Verb
Synonyms: rigidifypetrify

WordNet 3.0

Verb (3)

  1. become bony“The tissue ossified”
  2. make rigid and set into a conventional pattern“rigidify the training schedule”“ossified teaching methods”“slogans petrify our thinking”Synonyms: rigidifypetrify
  3. cause to become hard and bony“The disease ossified the tissue”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Ossify \Os"si*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ossified; p. pr. & vb. n. Ossifying.] [L. os, ossis, bone + -fy: cf. F. ossifier. See Osseous.]

1.(Physiol.) To form into bone; to change from a soft animal substance into bone, as by the deposition of lime salts. [1913 Webster]

2.(Fig.): To harden; as, to ossify the heart. --Ruskin. [1913 Webster]

Ossify \Os"si*fy\, v. i. (Physiol.) To become bone; to change from a soft tissue to a hard bony tissue. [1913 Webster]
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