ossification.

1. The process by which bone forms or tissue becomes bone.

2. The gradual hardening of ideas, habits, or institutions until they resist change.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• tissue ossification
• progressive ossification

On the page

The scan revealed ossification where flexible tissue should have remained.

Usage notes

Primary category: horror / gothic. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common.