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mummify
[ muhm-uh-fahy ]
verb (used with object)
- to make (a dead body) into a mummy, as by embalming and drying.
- to make (something) resemble a mummy; dry or shrivel up:
The dead lizard was mummified by the hot desert air.
- to preserve (an idea, institution, custom, etc.) that may have outlived its usefulness or relevance:
Those mummified customs have no place in society today.
verb (used without object)
- to dry or shrivel up.
mummify
/ ˈmʌmɪˌfaɪ /
verb
- tr to preserve the body of (a human or animal) as a mummy
- intr to dry up; shrivel
- tr to preserve (an outdated idea, institution, etc) while making lifeless
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Derived Forms
- ˌmummifiˈcation, noun
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Other Words From
- mummi·fi·cation noun
- half-mummi·fied adjective
- un·mummi·fied adjective
- un·mummi·fying adjective
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Example Sentences
It might be easier for dinosaurs to “mummify” than scientists had thought.
It might be easier for dinosaurs to “mummify” than scientists thought.
Analyses focused on hair from the girl’s naturally mummified body and fingernails from the boy’s partially mummified remains.
Until now, researchers had pegged the mummified Bronze Age bunch as newcomers and debated about where in West Asia they originally came from.
Blackened lungs in mummified tissue from Egypt, Peru, and Great Britain point to wood fires from ancient homes.
They mummify the victim, as it were, and tuck him away for the morrow.
They mummify before decay sets in and turn into a leathery brown, similar to the mummies of Egypt.
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