Definition of petrify

• v. t. - To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance.
• v. t. - To make callous or obdurate; to stupefy; to paralyze; to transform; as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young.
• v. i. - To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits.
• v. i. - Fig.: To become stony, callous, or obdurate.