ossify
to convert into or cause to harden like bone.
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
1Other words from ossify
- os·si·fi·er, noun
- un·os·si·fy·ing, adjective
Words Nearby ossify
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use ossify in a sentence
Valves of the Aorta of a cartilaginous texture, as if beginning to ossify.
An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical Uses | William WitheringThe other element, the cartilaginous brain-box, does not ossify, and tends to become absorbed (p. 124).
Form and Function | E. S. (Edward Stuart) RussellThere is a general growth to be observed, and the bones are beginning to ossify.
Embryology | Gerald R. LeightonMaimuni, through his religious Code, gave rabbinical Judaism a strong hold, and on the other hand he helped to ossify it.
History of the Jews, Vol. III (of 6) | Heinrich GraetzIn the young animal the ends of both radius and ulna are seen to ossify from centres different from those forming the shafts.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
British Dictionary definitions for ossify
/ (ˈɒsɪˌfaɪ) /
to convert or be converted into bone
(intr) (of habits, attitudes, etc) to become inflexible
Origin of ossify
1Derived forms of ossify
- ossifier, noun
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
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