ossify

[ os-uh-fahy ]
See synonyms for: ossifyossified on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing.
  1. to convert into or cause to harden like bone.

verb (used without object),os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing.
  1. to become bone or harden like bone.

  2. to become rigid or inflexible in habits, attitudes, opinions, etc.: a young man who began to ossify right after college.

Origin of ossify

1
1705–15; <Latin ossi- (stem of os) bone + -fy

Other 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.

  • The other element, the cartilaginous brain-box, does not ossify, and tends to become absorbed (p. 124).

    Form and Function | E. S. (Edward Stuart) Russell
  • There is a general growth to be observed, and the bones are beginning to ossify.

    Embryology | Gerald R. Leighton
  • Maimuni, through his religious Code, gave rabbinical Judaism a strong hold, and on the other hand he helped to ossify it.

  • In 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

ossify

/ (ˈɒsɪˌfaɪ) /


verb-fies, -fying or -fied
  1. to convert or be converted into bone

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

Origin of ossify

1
C18: from French ossifier, from Latin os bone + facere to make

Derived 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