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ossify.

Verb
Horror
MEANING

1. To become bone or cause tissue to develop into bone.

2. To become fixed in habits, rules, or attitudes so that adaptation is difficult.

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Words that belong together

  • cartilage ossifies
  • ossify tissue

On the page

The soft tissue began to ossify around the damaged joint.
The scan showed cartilage ossifying along the creature's spine.

Nearby words

Related words

Word forms
Base
ossify
Past tense
ossified
Past participle
ossified
Present participle
ossifying
Full tense & aspect guide
Present
ossify
Present continuous
am/is/are ossifying
Present perfect
have/has ossified
Present perfect continuous
have/has been ossifying
Past
ossified
Past continuous
was/were ossifying
Past perfect
had ossified
Past perfect continuous
had been ossifying
Future
will ossify
Future continuous
will be ossifying
Future perfect
will have ossified
Future perfect continuous
will have been ossifying

Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.

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Usage notes

Primary category: horror. Forms: ossify; ossifies; ossified; ossified; ossifying Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: ossifies.

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