What does it mean to petrify someone?

What does it mean to petrify someone?

English Language Learners Definition of petrify : to make (someone) very afraid. : to slowly change (something, such as wood) into stone or a substance like stone over a very long period of time. See the full definition for petrify in the English Language Learners Dictionary. petrify. verb.

Does petrified mean scared?

If you are petrified, you are extremely frightened, perhaps so frightened that you cannot think or move. A petrified plant or animal has died and has gradually turned into stone.

What is the synonym of petrified?

In this page you can discover 40 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for petrified, like: startled, stupefied, deadened, ossified, stone, calcified, comforted, terrified, afraid, stunned and mineralized.

What is an example of petrified?

Petrified is defined as rigid, paralyzed, or turned to stone. An example of petrified is someone unable to move because of fear. An example of petrified is a tree turned to stone after hot lava flowing over it.

How does something become petrified?

Petrified wood forms when fallen trees get washed down a river and buried under layers of mud, ash from volcanoes and other materials. Over millions of years, these minerals crystallize within the wood’s cellular structure forming the stone-like material known as petrified wood.

Can you get petrified?

Petrified wood typifies this process, but all organisms, from bacteria to vertebrates, can become petrified (although harder, more durable matter such as bone, beaks, and shells survive the process better than softer remains such as muscle tissue, feathers, or skin).

Is it possible to petrify?

If you scare someone so much they can’t move, you petrify them. Petrify is to make something like a stone or to literally turn to stone. More commonly, something petrifies a person or an animal when it scares them very much.

How do you use petrify in a sentence?

Petrify in a Sentence 🔉

1. Because heights petrify me, I will never get on a plane.
2. The terrorist group tries to petrify the public by showing gruesome videos.
3. When the kidnappers mailed the bloody finger, they hoped to petrify the hostage’s family into not going to the police.

What is the opposite of petrify?

petrify. Antonyms: reassure, tranquillize. Synonyms: astound, electrify, dismay, horrify, appal, stun, stupefy, dumbfounder.

How do things become petrified?

Petrified fossils form when minerals replace the structure of an organism. This process, called permineralization, occurs when groundwater solutions saturate the remains of buried plants or animals. As the water evaporates the minerals remain, eventually filling in the spaces left as the organism slowly decays.