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ossify

 - 5 dictionary results

os⋅si⋅fy

  [os-uh-fahy] verb, -fied, -fy⋅ing.
Use ossify in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to convert into or cause to harden like bone.
–verb (used without object)
2. to become bone or harden like bone.
3. to become rigid or inflexible in habits, attitudes, opinions, etc.: a young man who began to ossify right after college.
Origin:
1705–15; < L ossi- (s. of os) bone + -fy

Related forms:
os⋅si⋅fi⋅er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To ossify
os·si·fy   (ŏs'ə-fī')   
v.   os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing, os·si·fies

v.   intr.

  1. To change into bone; become bony.

  2. To become set in a rigidly conventional pattern: "The central ideas of liberalism have ossified" (Jeffrey Hart).

v.   tr.

  1. To convert (a membrane or cartilage, for example) into bone.

  2. To mold into a rigidly conventional pattern.


[Latin os, oss-, bone; see ost- in Indo-European roots + -fy.]
os·sif'ic (ŏ-sĭf'ĭk) adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

ossify 
1713, "to turn into bone," from L. os (gen. ossis) "bone" (see osseous). Fig. sense is from 1858.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: os·si·fy
Pronunciation: 'äs-&-"fI
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: -fied; -fy·ing
intransitivesenses
: to form or be transformed into bone ossify with age> ossify transitive senses
: to change (as cartilage) intobone ossify the tissue>
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

ossify os·si·fy (ŏs'ə-fī')
v. os·si·fied, os·si·fy·ing, os·si·fies
To change into bone.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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