ossify

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of ossify Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. Brianne Kane, Scientific American, 27 Sep. 2024 But the only time the new movie feels like its joints haven’t ossified is in a few scenes with L.A. oddballs like Nasim Pedrad’s ditzy real estate agent or Affion Crockett as a country club valet who’s not falling for Axel’s shtick. Ty Burr, Washington Post, 3 July 2024 At the same time, containment put unrelenting pressure on the Soviet Union and arguably led eventually to the internal collapse of the clumsy and ossified Soviet government — an outcome Kennan predicted. Richard Babcock, Chicago Tribune, 12 May 2024 Featuring entries dedicated to the abominable snowman and Nandi bears alongside examinations of platypuses and gorillas, Heuvelmans’s book celebrates the potential of a world teeming with creatures the scientific record has not yet ossified into fact. Chris Wheatley, Longreads, 18 Jan. 2024 See All Example Sentences for ossify
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ossify
Verb
  • But as the decades rolled on, the conventions of these temples to excess calcified.
    Jeremy Repanich, Robb Report, 14 June 2025
  • Residents whose permanent teeth had calcified without developing the stains did not risk having their teeth turn brown, according to the CDC.
    Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman, 12 May 2025
Verb
  • The full scope of the nightmare began to crystallize even as the chief learned how the instincts of a Brooklyn Park sergeant put the police on a collision course with Vance Boelter, the man accused of assassinating the Hortmans after shooting a state senator and his wife, at a critical moment.
    Danya Gainor, CNN Money, 18 June 2025
  • Since then, his improvement seems to have crystallized.
    Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 17 June 2025
Verb
  • Nearly every day brings a fresh breach of what were once thought to be the rules, moves that have thrilled his insurgent supporters and petrified his nervous opponents.
    Peter Baker, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
  • He was petrified by the thought of dying of cancer or some other disease whose senselessness disgusted him.
    Ian Buruma, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • Within hours the pool would coagulate into electric-blue slush, like a gas station Slurpee.
    Alec Luhn, Scientific American, 20 May 2025
  • That familiar lump of expectation coagulated in my stomach and throat.
    Thomas Weddle, Outdoor Life, 17 Apr. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Podcast

Cite this Entry

“Ossify.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ossify. Accessed 30 Jun. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!