Petrify
Petrify (pet"ri*fī) , transitive verb
[Latin petra rock, Greek pe`tra (akin to pe`tros a stone) + -fy: compare French pétrifier. Compare Parrot, Petrel, Pier.]
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.
2.
To make callous or obdurate; to transform, as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young.
Petrifying accuracy.
And petrify a genius to a dunce.
A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition.
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.
Petrify , intransitive verb
1.
To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
2.
Figuratively: To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
Like Niobe we marble grow,
And petrify with grief.