ossify
[ os-uh-fahy ]
/ ˈɒs əˌfaɪ /
verb (used with object), os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing.
to convert into or cause to harden like bone.
verb (used without object), os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing.
to become bone or harden like bone.
to become rigid or inflexible in habits, attitudes, opinions, etc.: a young man who began to ossify right after college.
Nearby words
- ossiferous,
- ossific,
- ossification,
- ossified,
- ossifrage,
- ossining,
- osso bucco,
- ossobuco,
- ossuarium,
- ossuary
Origin of ossify
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for ossify
ossify
/ (ˈɒsɪˌfaɪ) /
verb -fies, -fying or -fied
to convert or be converted into bone
(intr) (of habits, attitudes, etc) to become inflexible
Word Origin for ossify
C18: from French ossifier, from Latin os bone + facere to make
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
ossify
1713, "to turn into bone," a back-formation from ossification, or else modeled on French ossifier (18c.) and formed from Latin os (genitive ossis) "bone" (see osseous) + -fy. Figurative sense is from 1858. Related: Ossified; ossifying.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ossify
[ ŏs′ə-fī′ ]
v.
To change into bone.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.