petrify

Definitions


[ˈpɛtrɪfʌɪ], (Verb)

Definitions:
- make (someone) so frightened that they are unable to move
(e.g: his icy controlled quietness petrified her)

- change (organic matter) into a stony substance by encrusting or replacing it with a calcareous, siliceous, or other mineral deposit


Phrases:

Origin:
late Middle English: from French pétrifier, from medieval Latin petrificare, from Latin petra ‘rock’, from Greek




definition by Oxford Dictionaries