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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.
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A river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves.
--Kirwan.
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2. To make callous or obdurate; to transform, as by
petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young. "Petrifying
accuracy." --Sir W. Scott.
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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.
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The poor, petrified journeyman, quite unconscious of
what he was doing. --De Quincey.
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Petrify \Pet"ri*fy\, v. i.
1. To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter
by calcareous deposits.
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2. Fig.: To become stony, callous, or obdurate.
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Like Niobe we marble grow,
And petrify with grief. --Dryden.
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