gorgonize

American  

[gawr-guh-nahyz] / ˈgɔr gəˌnaɪz /

especially British, gorgonise

verb (used with object)

gorgonized, gorgonizing

1. to affect as a Gorgon; hypnotize; petrify.

   She felt trapped and totally helpless in his gorgonizing stare.

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Etymology

Origin of gorgonize

First recorded in 1600–10; Gorgon + -ize

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gorgonized gorgonizing

She puts out her little gloved hand and touches Volpatte's sleeve and then Blaire's shoulder, and they instantly halt, gorgonized by this direct contact with the fairy-like being.

From Under Fire: the story of a squad by Fitzwater Wray

As Crocker has well put it, when the face is affected it is gorgonized, so to speak, both to the eye and to the touch.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Walter L. (Walter Lytle) Pyle

Instantly the door opened and there stood Mrs. Kannon, clutching her sacque together at the throat and gorgonizing him with her opaque, yellow eyes.

From Rolling Stones by O. Henry

And what a face: gorgonizing in its assumption of virtue!

From Alone by Norman Douglas