Definition of: petrify

(pet′rə·fī) v. ·fied, ·fy·ing v.t.
1. To convert (organic material) into a substance of stony character.
2. To make fixed and unyielding; deaden; harden.
3. To daze or paralyze with fear, surprise, etc.
—v.i.
4. To become stone or a stony substance. [<MF pétrifier <L petra a rock + facere make]
—pe·trif·ic (pə·trif′ik) adjective