petrifying
present participle ofpetrify
petrify
verb
uk/ˈpet.rə.faɪ/us/ˈpet.rə.faɪ/petrifyverb(FRIGHTEN)
[T]
tofrightensomeone a lot,especiallyso that they areunabletomoveorspeak:
Ithinkyou petrifiedpoorFrazer - he never said a word thewholetimeyou were here.
Frightening and scaring
- chill
- chillsomeoneto the bone/marrowidiom
- cow
- creep
- curdle
- daylight
- dreadful
- flesh
- jump scare
- makesomeone'sblood curdleidiom
- makesomeone'sblood run coldidiom
- makesomeone'shair stand on endidiom
- makeyourflesh crawl/creepidiom
- scare
- scaremongering
- send
- send chills down/upsomeone'sspineidiom
- send shivers down/upsomeone'sspineidiom
- send shudders/a shudder downyourspineidiom
- wit
petrifyverb(CHANGE TO STONE)
[I]geologyspecialized
Ifdeadthings petrify, theychangeto asubstancelikestoneover alongperiodoftime.
Palaeontology & fossils
- ammonite
- ammonoid
- biozone
- carbon dating
- fossil
- fossil record
- fossilization
- fossilize
- fossilized
- index fossil
- microfossil
- missing link
- palaeontologist
- palaeontology
- petrifaction
- petrify
- radiocarbon dating
Examplesofpetrifying
petrifying
In English, many past and present participles of verbs can be used as adjectives. Some of these examples may show the adjective use.
An understanding of thepetrifyinggravity of wealth and the freedom of ' asceticism ' develops.
From theCambridge English Corpus
It was tied up with a prices and incomes policy which had the effect ofpetrifyingwages.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
It is thepetrifyingworry that so many people feel in the circumstances under the ground of two weeks' notice.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
It ispetrifyingto think that it was so long ago.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I believe that would be extremely bad and verypetrifyingto the whole structure and growth of the medium as we see it.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The great danger is standardisation with itspetrifyingtendencies, which stamp out initia- tive.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
I call it perturbing andpetrifying.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
As a result of thispetrifyingsystem, we do not have the proper flow which ought to mark a free economy able to meet changing needs and demands.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
It intimidates its foe by raising its head high and glaring at them, usuallypetrifyingenemies.
From
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.It scared me personally, though, because the idea of going through something like that ispetrifying.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.Maedar appear as muscular, hairless, human males, and lack the female medusa's snake-like hair andpetrifyinggaze.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.Calledpetrifyingsprings, they are quite common in limestone districts.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.Victoria's party visited a pair of museums and apetrifyingwell.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.Catastrophe is also capable ofpetrifyingcharacters.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
- drip-drip-drip
- drip-dry
- drip-dry
- drip-drying
- drip-drying
- drip marketing
- drip-marketing
- drip method
- drip-method
- dripped
- dripping
- drippings
- drippy
- drip system
- drip tip
- drip-tip
- drive
- drive-a-coach-and-horses-through
- drive a coach and horses through something
- drive a coach and horses through sth
- drive-a-coach-and-horses-through-sth
- drive a hard bargain
- drive-a-hard-bargain
- drive-around-the-bend
- drive-at