ossify Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb become bony
    • The tissue ossified
  2. verb make rigid and set into a conventional pattern
    rigidify; petrify.
    • rigidify the training schedule
    • ossified teaching methods
    • slogans petrify our thinking
  3. verb cause to become hard and bony
    • The disease ossified the tissue

WordNet

Os"si*fy transitive verb
Etymology
L. os, ossis, bone + -fy: cf. F. ossifier. See Osseous.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Ossified ; present participle & verbal noun Ossifying
Definitions
  1. (Physiol.) To form into bone; to change from a soft animal substance into bone, as by the deposition of lime salts.
  2. Fig.: To harden; as, to ossify the heart. Ruskin.
Os"si*fy intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. (Physiol.) To become bone; to change from a soft tissue to a hard bony tissue.

Webster 1913