Crossword clues for mortify
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mortify \Mor"ti*fy\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mortified; p. pr. & vb. n. Mortifying.] [OE. mortifien, F. mortifier, fr. L. mortificare; L. mors, mortis, death + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Mortal, and -fy.]
To destroy the organic texture and vital functions of; to produce gangrene in.
-
To destroy the active powers or essential qualities of; to change by chemical action. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.Quicksilver is mortified with turpentine.
--Bacon.He mortified pearls in vinegar.
--Hakewill. -
To deaden by religious or other discipline, as the carnal affections, bodily appetites, or worldly desires; to bring into subjection; to abase; to humble; as, to mortify the flesh.
With fasting mortified, worn out with tears.
--Harte.Mortify thy learned lust.
--Prior.Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth.
--Col. iii. 5. -
To affect with vexation, chagrin; to depress.
The news of the fatal battle of Worcester, which exceedingly mortified our expectations.
--Evelyn.How often is the ambitious man mortified with the very praises he receives, if they do not rise so high as he thinks they ought!
--Addison. To humiliate deeply, especially by injuring the pride of; to embarrass painfully; to humble; as, the team was mortified to lose by 45 to 0.
Mortify \Mor"ti*fy\, v. i.
To lose vitality and organic structure, as flesh of a living body; to gangrene.
-
To practice penance from religious motives; to deaden desires by religious discipline.
This makes him . . . give alms of all that he hath, watch, fast, and mortify.
--Law. To be subdued; to decay, as appetites, desires, etc.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
late 14c., "to kill," from Old French mortefiier "destroy, overwhelm, punish," from Late Latin mortificare "cause death, kill, put to death," literally "make dead," from mortificus "producing death," from Latin mors (genitive mortis) "death" (see mortal (adj.)) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Religious sense of "to subdue the flesh by abstinence and discipline" first attested early 15c. Sense of "humiliate" first recorded 1690s (compare mortification). Related: Mortified; mortifying.
Wiktionary
vb. 1 (context obsolete transitive English) To kill. (14th–17th c.) 2 (context obsolete English) To reduce the potency of; to nullify; to deaden, neutralize. (14th–18th c.) 3 (context obsolete transitive English) To kill off (living tissue etc.); to make necrotic. (15th–18th c.) 4 To discipline (one's body, appetites etc.) by suppressing desires; to practise abstinence on. (from 15th c.) 5 (context usually used passively English) To embarrass, to humiliate. (from 17th c.)
WordNet
v. practice self-denial of one's body and appetites
hold within limits and control; "subdue one's appetites"; "mortify the flesh" [syn: subdue, cricify]
cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of; "He humiliated his colleague by criticising him in front of the boss" [syn: humiliate, chagrin, humble, abase]
undergo necrosis; "the tissue around the wound necrosed" [syn: necrose, gangrene, sphacelate]
[also: mortified]
Usage examples of "mortify".
The overloaded appetite loathes even the honeycomb, and it is scarce a wonder that the knight, mortified and harassed with misfortunes and abasement, became something impatient of hearing his misery made, at every turn, the ground of proverbs and apothegms, however just and apposite.
That I do not call myself blameless is due to my weakness in allowing this mortifying business to continue so long.
Miss Hamilton was completely silent, and to Martyn, humiliated and miserable, the necessary intimacies of her work were particularly mortifying.
I am mortified with myself beyond measure, and I am bitterly ashamed that my aunt, her own mother, should have so grossly misjudged her.
Poor creature, she is so much mortified she dare hardly speak above a whisper!
But James was indignant at the base proposal, and felt mortified and vexed when obliged to concede in part, and to make conditions which he thought hard with his guest.
I was coaxing it out of the water, splashed back into it, and when I think of the incident I feel mortified at the loss even now.
A shower of pamphlets appealed against him, and the city of London, where his influence had recently reigned paramount, mortified him, by declining repeated proposals of presenting him with an address on his appointment.
On this occasion Pitt was mortified by the opposition of his friend Wilberforce, who objected that the obvious tendency of the address was to pledge the house to a prosecution of the war till there should be a counter revolution in France.
During his pursuit of the French army, Lord Wellington was mortified by the intelligence that Soult had captured Badajoz.
Jared in a funny way, as if she was perhaps a bit mortified, but far more amused to have been swung so violently into him.
When Teekleman hears it told he makes a great pretence of laughing and being seen to be a good fellow who can take a joke, but later relays the remark to Hinetitama who finds herself completely mortified and humiliated.
Seeing an adult humiliated like that mortified me so much that for a couple of weeks I walked three blocks to shop at a different cornerstore so as to avoid having to look Mr Kane in the face after having witnessed his humiliation.
He yanked the dress down one of her shoulders, exposing her chest and one of her budding breasts, and Sarah screamed again, mortified, wriggling with more strength than she knew she had.
But the little girls tried him with all they Possessed, and he was mortified to find how ignorant he was.