from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride.
- intransitive verb To discipline (one's of the body and the appetites) by self-denial or self-inflicted privation, especially for religious reasons.
- intransitive verb To practice mortification of the body and its appetites.
- intransitive verb To undergo mortification; become gangrenous.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To destroy the life of; destroy the vitality of (a part of a living body); affect with gangrene.
- To deaden; render insensible; make apathetic.
- To reduce in strength or force; weaken.
- To subdue, restrain, reduce, or bring into subjection by abstinence or rigorous severities; bring under subjection by ascetic discipline or regimen; subject or restrain in any way, for moral or religious reasons.
- To humiliate; depress; affect with vexation or chagrin.
- In chem. and metallurgy, to destroy or diminish the active powers or characteristic qualities of.
- In Scots law, to dispose of by mortification. See
- Synonyms To shame, chagrin. See
- To lose vitality and organic structure while yet a portion of the living body; become gangrenous.
- To become languid; fall into decay.
- To be subdued; die away: said of inordinate appetites, etc.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To lose vitality and organic structure, as flesh of a living body; to gangrene.
- intransitive verb To practice penance from religious motives; to deaden desires by religious discipline.
- intransitive verb To be subdued; to decay, as appetites, desires, etc.
- transitive verb To destroy the organic texture and vital functions of; to produce gangrene in.
- transitive verb obsolete To destroy the active powers or essential qualities of; to change by chemical action.
- transitive verb To deaden by religious or other discipline, as the carnal affections, bodily appetites, or worldly desires; to bring into subjection; to abase; to humble.
- transitive verb To affect with vexation, chagrin; to depress.
- transitive verb To humiliate deeply, especially by injuring the pride of; to embarrass painfully; to humble.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb hold within limits and control
- verb undergo necrosis
- verb practice self-denial of one's body and appetites
- verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
The word mortify here is, literally, to make to die.
True politeness consists in making every body happy about you; and as to mortify is to render unhappy, it can be nothing but the worst of breeding.
The apostle is not satisfied with assuring them that they are under no obligations to the flesh, to hearken to its suggestions, without reminding them where it will end if they do; and he uses the word "mortify" (put to death) as a kind of play upon the word "die" just before.
"mortify," -- that is, extinguish and destroy all that force and vigour of corrupted nature which inclines to earthly, carnal things, opposite unto that spiritual, heavenly life and its actings which we have in and from Christ, as was before declared.
“ 'Yes,' she replied, 'but such as mortify me as much as they must pain you.
"'Yes,' she replied, 'but such as mortify me as much as they must pain you.
So is this where Opus Dei members mortify themselves to keep their minds off sex?
Life could not get any better for Giants fans, which will mortify Giants fans.
Armstrong was required to mortify her flesh with whips and wear a spiked chain around her arm.
All I did that blessed, livelong day was to sweat and swelter in the sun, mortify my lean flesh upon the rock, gaze out of the desolation, resurrect old memories, dream dreams, and mutter my convictions aloud.