ossifying


os·si·fy

O0140400 (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.