ossify

[os-uh-fahy]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR ossify ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Origin of ossify

1705–15; < Latin ossi- (stem of os) bone + -fy

Related formsos·si·fi·er, nounun·os·si·fy·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for ossify

The first vertebra to ossify is the second or third cervical, and the ossification gradually extends to those behind.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)|Francis Maitland Balfour
To be overwise is to ossify; and the scruple-monger ends by standing stockstill.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition|Robert Louis Stevenson
Does it liberate or suppress, ossify or render flexible, divide or unify interest?
Human Nature and Conduct|John Dewey
There is a general growth to be observed, and the bones are beginning to ossify.
Embryology|Gerald R. Leighton

The latter will always take care of themselves—the danger being that they rapidly tend to ossify us.
Complete Prose Works|Walt Whitman

British Dictionary definitions for ossify

ossify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied

to convert or be converted into bone

(intr) (of habits, attitudes, etc) to become inflexible

Derived Formsossifier, noun

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

Word Origin and History for 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.

Medicine definitions for ossify

ossify

[ŏs′ə-fī′]

v.

To change into bone.

ossify

verb (used with object), os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing.

verb (used without object), os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing.

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Origin of ossify

Examples from the Web for ossify

ossify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied

Word Origin for ossify

ossify

v.