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Definition of "fossilize" [fos•sil•ize]

  • To convert into a fossil. (verb-transitive)
  • To make outmoded or inflexible with time; antiquate. (verb-transitive)
  • To become a fossil. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "fossilize" in a sentence
  • "Otherwise, there is a danger that they will simply mark time as language learners, or even – to use a now fairly discredited term – fossilize."
  • "State politics fossilize; Democrats see little reason to give up the spending they like if enough Republicans won't meet them anywhere close to the middle."
  • "Though brains don't normally fossilize, we do have a great deal of fossil evidence revealing the long evolutionary history of chordates."