ossify

UK /ˈɒs.ɪ.faɪ/ US /ˈɑ.sə.faɪ/
verb 4

Definitions

verb

1

To transform (or cause to transform) from a softer animal substance into bone; particularly the processes of growth in humans and animals.

[…], nor do all bones of the same skeleton ossify during the samе period of time.

2

To become (or cause to become) inflexible and rigid in habits or opinions.

Before long, the entire organization ossifies.

Possession of absolute knowledge would ossify the human spirit, quenching human creativity;

3

To grow (or cause to grow) formulaic and permanent.

This accidental repartition gets repeated, develops advantages of its own, and gradually ossifies into a systematic division of labour.

Now, in turn, we apply a revolutionary critique that […] ossifies into a rhetoric to become "the monstrous Latin of a monstrous church."

4

To calcify.

The cartilages become brittle, and in many instances are ossified; the ligaments are rendered harder, but are less capable of resisting extension.

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