Search Result for "ossify": 
Wordnet 3.0

VERB (3)

1. become bony;
- Example: "The tissue ossified"

2. make rigid and set into a conventional pattern;
- Example: "rigidify the training schedule"
- Example: "ossified teaching methods"
- Example: "slogans petrify our thinking"
[syn: rigidify, ossify, petrify]

3. cause to become hard and bony;
- Example: "The disease ossified the tissue"


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Ossify \Os"si*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ossified; p. pr. & vb. n. Ossifying.] [L. os, ossis, bone + -fy: cf. F. ossifier. See Osseous.] 1. (Physiol.) To form into bone; to change from a soft animal substance into bone, as by the deposition of lime salts. [1913 Webster] 2. (Fig.): To harden; as, to ossify the heart. --Ruskin. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Ossify \Os"si*fy\, v. i. (Physiol.) To become bone; to change from a soft tissue to a hard bony tissue. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

ossify v 1: become bony; "The tissue ossified" 2: make rigid and set into a conventional pattern; "rigidify the training schedule"; "ossified teaching methods"; "slogans petrify our thinking" [syn: rigidify, ossify, petrify] 3: cause to become hard and bony; "The disease ossified the tissue"
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

18 Moby Thesaurus words for "ossify": anneal, brutalize, calcify, callous, case harden, cornify, firm, fossilize, harden, indurate, inure, lapidify, lithify, petrify, steel, temper, toughen, vitrify