Meaning

(ambitransitive) To transform (or cause to transform) from a softer animal substance into bone; particularly the processes of growth in humans and animals..

Definitions by Sense

1. (ambitransitive) To transform (or cause to transform) from a softer animal substance into bone; particularly the processes of growth in humans and animals.
2. (ambitransitive, animate) To become (or cause to become) inflexible and rigid in habits or opinions.
3. (ambitransitive, inanimate) To grow (or cause to grow) formulaic and permanent.
4. (rare) To calcify.

Example Sentences

[…], nor do all bones of the same skeleton ossify during the samе period of time.

Before long, the entire organization ossifies.

Possession of absolute knowledge would ossify the human spirit, quenching human creativity;

This accidental repartition gets repeated, develops advantages of its own, and gradually ossifies into a systematic division of labour.

Now, in turn, we apply a revolutionary critique that […] ossifies into a rhetoric to become "the monstrous Latin of a monstrous church."

[T]he charge threatens to ossify into conventional wisdom before the movie's audience can get to theaters to see how misguided it is.

The cartilages become brittle, and in many instances are ossified; the ligaments are rendered harder, but are less capable of resisting extension.

Word Forms

• ossifies
• ossifying
• ossified

Synonyms for ossify

Antonyms for ossify

Related Words

When Should You Use Ossify?

Use ossify when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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