Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A process of fossilization in which dissolved minerals replace organic matter.
  • noun The state of being stunned or paralyzed with fear.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Conversion into stone, specifically of organic substances or parts of such: fossilization; replacement of organic matter by some mineral substance, in which process more or less of the form and structure of the organized body is preserved.
  • noun An organic substance converted into stone; a fossil.
  • noun Figuratively, a rigid or stunned condition resulting from fear, astonishment, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The process of petrifying, or changing into stone; conversion of any organic matter (animal or vegetable) into stone, or a substance of stony hardness.
  • noun The state or condition of being petrified.
  • noun That which is petrified; popularly, a body incrusted with stony matter; an incrustation.
  • noun Fig.: Hardness; callousness; obduracy.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the condition of being petrified

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the process of turning some plant material into stone by infiltration with water carrying mineral particles without changing the original shape
  • noun a rock created by petrifaction; an organic object infiltrated with mineral matter and preserved in its original form

Etymologies

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  • Citation on pung.

    April 3, 2010