| 释义 |
petrify, v.|ˈpɛtrɪfaɪ|
Also 7 erron. petrefie.
[a. F. pétrifi-er (16th c. in Godef. Compl.) = It. petrificare ‘to grow hard as a stone’ (Florio), ad. L. type *petrificāre (prob. in early mod.L.), f. petra rock, stone: see -fy.]
1. trans. To convert into stone or stony substance; spec. to turn (an organic body) into a stony concretion by replacing its original substance by a calcareous, siliceous, or other mineral deposit; also, loosely, to encrust with such a deposit, as may be done by a stream of water holding the mineral in solution. Also absol.
1594Plat Jewell-ho. i. 22 Wood that is both metalized and petrified in clay groundes. 1611Florio, Insassire,..to enstone, to petrifie. 1668R. L'Estrange Vis. of Quev. (1708) 103 A Man would swear the whole Woman to be directly Petrify'd. a1697Aubrey Lives (1898) I. 131 At the foot..runnes a fine cleare stream which petrifies. 1750tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 30 Albertus gives an account of a tree..with a nest and birds petrified. 1805–17R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 229 Wood is petrified with an earthy mineral, as in wood-stone and wood-opal. 1869H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 148 The eight caryatides..were supposed to have been petrified by..magic.
2. fig. To change as if into stone.
a. To deprive of feeling, vitality, capacity of change or development, etc., to harden, benumb, deaden, stiffen.
1626Donne Serm., Luke ii. 29 (1640) 34 Doe not petrifie and harden thy Conscience against these holy suggestions. a1711Ken Hymnarium Poet. Wks. 1721 II. 82 All Hell let loose..to blind And petrify the unrelenting Mind. 1742Pope Dunc. iv. 264 Full in the midst of Euclid dip at once, And petrify a Genius to a Dunce. 1892Westcott Gospel of Life 57 It is..possible to petrify a doctrine into an outward formula.
b. To deprive of movement by a sudden emotion; to make motionless or rigid with astonishment, horror, or the like; to paralyse, stupefy, strike dumb, confound. (Chiefly pass.)
1771Goldsm. Haunch of Venison 108 With looks that quite petrified enter'd the maid. 1786F. Burney Diary 2 Aug., I was almost petrified with horror at the intelligence. 1814P. Hawker Diary (1893) I. 96 Mr. Cudmore petrified the whole neighbourhood with his astonishing pianoforte playing. 1880G. Meredith Tragic Com. 287 She had stood petrified before him, as if affected by some wicked spell.
3. intr. (for pass.) To become converted into stone or stony substance; to undergo petrifaction.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. ii. i. 50 When wood and many other bodies doe petrifie..wee do not usually ascribe their induration to cold. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 272 Cement like that of the Ancients, which petrified. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 40 Those Piers did not petrify at all that lay on Beds that were not gravelly.
b. fig.: cf. 2.
1685Dryden Threnod. August. 8 Like Niobe we marble grow, And petrify with grief. 1721Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 12 (1754) 62 A director, or scull of a college..petrifies in fraud and shamelesness. 1868J. H. Blunt Ref. Ch. Eng. I. 29 The minds of men had petrified in certain forms of theological language. |