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Petrifaction

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
petrifaction: see fossil fossil, remains or imprints of plants or animals preserved from prehistoric times by the operation of natural conditions. Fossils are found in sedimentary rock, asphalt deposits, and coal and sometimes in amber and certain other materials.
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petrifaction [‚pe·trə′fak·shən]
(geology)
A fossilization process whereby inorganic matter dissolved in water replaces the original organic materials, converting them to a stony substance.
Petrifaction 

the conversion of the remains of animals and plants into fossils as a result of the action of a number of factors: temperature and pressure,- the replacement of skeletal matter by other mineral substances, and the filling of cavities in organic residue by other mineral substances.
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No answering spark of kindness, no awakening penitence, but an unappeasable ill-humour, and a spirit of tyrannous exaction that increased with indulgence, and a lurking gleam of self-complacent triumph at every detection of relenting softness in my manner, that congealed me to marble again as often as it recurred; and this morning he finished the business:- I think the petrifaction is so completely effected at last that nothing can melt me again.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Bronte, Anne View in context
Here, too, the bride's aunt and next relation; a widowed female of a Medusa sort, in a stoney cap, glaring petrifaction at her fellow- creatures.
Our Mutual Friend by Dickens, Charles View in context
Esther, whose eyes had come alive and her cheeks flushed during these last words, relapsed in a second into a state of petrifaction.
Tales and Fantasies by Stevenson, Robert Louis View in context
 
 
 
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