Petrifying

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Petrify \Pet"ri*fy\ (p[e^]t"r[i^]*f[imac]), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
     {Petrified}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Petrifying}.] [L. petra rock,
     Gr. pe`tra (akin to pe`tros a stone) + -fy: cf. F.
     p['e]trifier. Cf. {Parrot}, {Petrel}, {Pier}.]
     1. To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone
        or stony substance; as, petrified wood.


        [1913 Webster]
  
              A river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves.
                                                    --Kirwan.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To make callous or obdurate; to transform, as by
        petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young. "Petrifying
        accuracy." --Sir W. Scott.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And petrify a genius to a dunce.      --Pope.
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              A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to
              petrify your volition.                --G. Eliot.
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     3. To paralyze, especially with fear; to stupefy; as, she was
        petrified by the sight of the bear in her tent.
        [PJC]
  
              The poor, petrified journeyman, quite unconscious of
              what he was doing.                    --De Quincey.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  petrifying
       adj : paralyzing with terror

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  21 Moby Thesaurus words for "petrifying":
     bloodcurdling, hair-raising, hardening, indurative, paralyzing,
     petrifactive, stunning, stupefying, terrifying, terror,
     terror-bearing, terror-breathing, terror-breeding, terror-bringing,
     terror-fraught, terror-giving, terror-inspiring, terror-striking,
     terrorful, terroristic, toughening