ossify

American  

[os-uh-fahy] / ˈɒs əˌfaɪ /

verb (used with object)

ossified, ossifying

1. to convert into or cause to harden like bone.

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verb (used without object)

ossified, ossifying

1. to become bone or harden like bone.

2. to become rigid or inflexible in habits, attitudes, opinions, etc..

   a young man who began to ossify right after college.

ossify British  

/ ˈɒsɪˌfaɪ /

verb

1. to convert or be converted into bone

2. (intr) (of habits, attitudes, etc) to become inflexible

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Other Word Forms

• ossifier noun
• unossifying adjective

Etymology

Origin of ossify

1705–15; < Latin ossi- (stem of os ) bone + -fy

Example Sentences

Or am I about to do something that is going to reinforce these divisions and ossify the boundaries between people?

From Salon • Mar. 6, 2023

We know, for example, that when you hit your 60s and 70s, vocal folds weaken, cartilage in the larynx begins to ossify and respiratory systems that power voices start to work less efficiently.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 25, 2021

Nadal, who has a longstanding foot problem because his navicular bone did not correctly ossify during childhood, was upbeat about his progress after his loss to Harris.

From New York Times • Aug. 12, 2021

After an era of vigorous growth, they ossify and die.

From Scientific American • Nov. 23, 2019

Elderly people can also increase their chest expansion and breathing capacity, but it takes more time, for with the years the chest cartilages have a tendency to harden and even to ossify.

From Maintaining Health Formerly Health and Efficiency by Alsaker, R. L.