*petr*

prop. n. A genus of heathlike shrubs including the crowberry (Empetrum nigrum).
Syn. -- genus Empetrum. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

pos>a. [ L. impetrabilis: cf. F. impétrable. See Impetrate. ] Capable of being obtained or moved by petition. [ Obs. ] Bailey. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. impetratus, p. p. of impetrare to obtain; pref. im- in + patrare to bring to pass. ] Obtained by entreaty. [ Obs. ] Ld. Herbert. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Impetrated p. pr. & vb. n. Impetrating ] To obtain by request or entreaty. Usher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. impetratio: cf. F. impétration. ] 1. The act of impetrating, or obtaining by petition or entreaty. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

In way of impertation procuring the removal or allevation of our crosses. Barrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Old Eng. Law) The obtaining of benefice from Rome by solicitation, which benefice belonged to the disposal of the king or other lay patron of the realm. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. impetrativus obtained by entreaty. ] Of the nature of impetration; getting, or tending to get, by entreaty. [ Obs. ] Bp. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Containing or expressing entreaty. [ Obs. ] Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being perpetrated. R. North. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Perpetrated p. pr. & vb. n. Perpetrating. ] [ L. perpetratus, p. p. of perpetrare to effect, perpetrare; per + patrare to perform. ] To do or perform; to carry through; to execute, commonly in a bad sense; to commit (as a crime, an offense); to be guilty of; as, to perpetrate a foul deed. [ 1913 Webster ]

What the worst perpetrate, or best endure. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. perpetratio: cf. F. perpétration. ] 1. The act of perpetrating; a doing; -- commonly used of doing something wrong, as a crime. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The thing perpetrated; an evil action. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ] One who perpetrates; esp., one who commits an offense or crime. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Petrology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. petra stone. Cf. Sp. petraria, and E. Pederero. ] An ancient war engine for hurling stones. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Saltpeter. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. petraeus, Gr. petrai^os, fr. pe`tra a rock. ] Of or pertaining to rock. G. S. Faber. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. pétrel; a dim. of the name Peter, L. Petrus, Gr. pe`tros a stone (John i. 42); -- probably so called in allusion to St. Peter's walking on the sea. See Petrify. ] (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of longwinged sea birds belonging to the family Procellaridæ. The small petrels, or Mother Carey's chickens, belong to Oceanites, Oceanodroma, Procellaria, and several allied genera. [ 1913 Webster ]

Diving petrel, any bird of the genus Pelecanoides. They chiefly inhabit the southern hemisphere. --
Fulmar petrel,
Giant petrel. See Fulmar. --
Pintado petrel, the Cape pigeon. See under Cape. --
Pintado petrel, any one of several small petrels, especially Procellaria pelagica, or Mother Carey's chicken, common on both sides of the Atlantic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The process of changing into stone; petrification. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. petra rock, stone, Gr. pe`tra. ] Petrifying; converting into stone; as, petrescent water. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Petrify. ] 1. The process of petrifying, or changing into stone; conversion of any organic matter (animal or vegetable) into stone, or a substance of stony hardness. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The state or condition of being petrified. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is petrified; popularly, a body incrusted with stony matter; an incrustation. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Fig.: Hardness; callousness; obduracy. “Petrifaction of the soul.” Cudworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having the quality of converting organic matter into stone; petrifying. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Pertaining to, or characterized by, petrifaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

The . . . petrifactive mutations of hard bodies. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. pétrifique. ] Petrifying; petrifactive. [ 1913 Webster ]

Death with his mace petrific, cold and dry. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To petrify. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Our hearts petrificated were. J. Hall (1646). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. pétrification. See Petrify. ] 1. See Petrifaction. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: Obduracy; callousness. Hallywell. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. Converted into stone. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. Converted into a mineral; as, petrified wood.
Syn. -- mineralized. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. Same as terrified; as, petrified by the sight of the approaching bear.
Syn. -- panicky, panic-stricken, panic-struck, terrified, frightened. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

4. rendered unable to act due to intense fear. petrified with fear
Syn. -- frozen. [ PJC ]

5. Rendered lifeless or inactive; as, an imagination petrified by habitual television viewing.
Syn. -- frozen; ossified. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Petrified p. pr. & vb. n. Petrifying ] [ L. petra rock, Gr. pe`tra (akin to pe`tros a stone) + -fy: cf. F. pétrifier. Cf. Parrot, Petrel, Pier. ] 1. To convert, as any animal or vegetable matter, into stone or stony substance; as, petrified wood. [ 1913 Webster ]

A river that petrifies any sort of wood or leaves. Kirwan. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To make callous or obdurate; to transform, as by petrifaction; as, to petrify the heart. Young. “Petrifying accuracy.” Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

And petrify a genius to a dunce. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

A hideous fatalism, which ought, logically, to petrify your volition. G. Eliot. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To paralyze, especially with fear; to stupefy; as, she was petrified by the sight of the bear in her tent. [ PJC ]

The poor, petrified journeyman, quite unconscious of what he was doing. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To become stone, or of a stony hardness, as organic matter by calcareous deposits. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: To become stony, callous, or obdurate. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like Niobe we marble grow,
And petrify with grief. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to St. Peter; as, the Petrine Epistles. [ 1913 Webster ]

A combining form from Gr. pe`tra a rock, pe`tros a stone; as, petrology, petroglyphic. [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A genus of perennial tussock-forming rock plants; native to the Pyrenees and mountains of Northern Spain; it is similar to and sometimes placed in the genus Lychnis.
Syn. -- genus Petrocoptis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ NL., fr. Gr. pe`tra a rock + galh^ a weasel. ] (Zool.) Any Australian kangaroo of the genus Petrogale, as the rock wallaby (Petrogale penicillata). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A carving or drawing on rock, especially one made by prehistoric humans; called also a petrograph. [ PJC ]

a. Of or pertaining to petroglyphs or petroglyphy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Petro + Gr. gly`fein to carve. ] The art or operation of carving figures or inscriptions on rock or stone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A carving or drawing on rock, especially one made by prehistoric humans; called also a petrograph. [ PJC ]

{ } a. Pertaining to petrography. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Petro + -graphy. ] 1. The art of writing on stone. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The scientific description of rocks; that department of science which investigates the constitution of rocks; petrology. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Petro + hyoid. ] (Anat.) Pertaining to the petrous, or periotic, portion of the skull and the hyoid arch; as, the petrohyoid muscles of the frog. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Petroleum. [ Archaic and R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Same as gasoline; -- British usage. [ British ] [ PJC ]

n. (Chem. & Pharm.) A semisolid unctuous substance, neutral, and without taste or odor, derived from petroleum by distilling off the lighter portions and purifying the residue. It is a yellowish, fatlike mass, transparent in thin layers, and somewhat fluorescent. It is used as a bland protective dressing, and as a substitute for fatty materials in ointments. U. S. Pharm. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Petrolatum is the official name for the purified product. Cosmoline and vaseline are commercial names for substances essentially the same, but differing slightly in appearance and consistency or fusibility. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ NL., fr. L. petra a rock + oleum oil: cf. F. pétrole. Cf. Petrify, and Oil. ] Rock oil, mineral oil, or natural oil, a dark brown or greenish inflammable liquid, which, at certain points, exists in the upper strata of the earth, from whence it is pumped, or forced by pressure of the gas attending it. It consists of a complex mixture of various hydrocarbons, largely of the methane series, but may vary much in appearance, composition, and properties. It is refined by distillation, and the products include kerosene, benzine, gasoline, paraffin, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Petroleum spirit, a volatile liquid obtained in the distillation of crude petroleum at a temperature of 170° Fahr., or below. The term is rather loosely applied to a considerable range of products, including benzine and ligroin. The terms petroleum ether, and naphtha, are sometimes applied to the still more volatile products, including rhigolene, gasoline, cymogene, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ ‖n. m. ‖n. f. } [ F. ] One who makes use of petroleum for incendiary purposes. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) A paraffin obtained from petroleum from Rangoon in India, and practically identical with ordinary paraffin. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Of or pertaining to petrology. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. According to petrology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who is versed in petrology. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Petro + -logy. ] 1. The department of science which is concerned with the mineralogical and chemical composition of rocks, and with their classification: lithology. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A treatise on petrology. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Petro + mastoid. ] (Anat.) Of or pertaining to the petrous and mastoid parts of the temporal bone; periotic. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Petro + Gr. my`zein to suck in. ] (Zool.) A lamprey. [ 1913 Webster ]