calcify

American  

[kal-suh-fahy] / ˈkæl səˌfaɪ /

verb (used with or without object)

calcified, calcifying

1. Physiology. to make or become calcareous or bony; harden by the deposit of calcium salts.

2. Geology. to harden by deposition of calcium carbonate.

3. to make or become rigid or intransigent, as in a political position.

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calcify British  

/ ˈkælsɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to convert or be converted into lime

2. to harden or become hardened by impregnation with calcium salts

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Other Word Forms

• noncalcified adjective
• uncalcified adjective

Etymology

Origin of calcify

First recorded in 1830–40; calci- + -fy

Example Sentences

When climate models leave out calcifying plankton, they may miss key steps in the global carbon cycle.

From Science Daily

Those wins come from a combination of tax and entitlement reform, wholesale deregulation, the administration’s disruption of a calcified budget process, and some spending leadership in Congress.

From The Wall Street Journal

But amid the platitudes, sadness and shock is calcifying into anger and tension.

From BBC

In response to a detailed list of questions, a senior State Department official said fast, drastic changes to foreign aid were necessary to reform a “calcified system.”

From Salon

As they feed on seaweed and seagrass, they trim back algae and help protect slow-growing species such as corals and certain calcifying algae.

From Science Daily