torpefy, v.
(ˈtɔːpɪfaɪ)
(erron. torpify.)
[ad. L. torpefacĕre, f. torpē-re to be numb + facĕre to make.]
trans. To render torpid, benumb, deaden, paralyse. Also fig. Hence ˈtorpefying ppl. a.
| 1808 Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 117/2 The common eel, when equally frozen and torpefied, is capable of being conveyed a thousand miles up the country. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 203 Sternutatories, which exhaust, weaken and torpefy the nerves of smell. Ibid. 432 Carbonic acid,..chiefly found in the guise of a torpefying vapour, in close rooms where charcoal has been burnt. 1829 Southey Sir T. More II. 117 To stablish, and to quicken his belief, not to shake, or torpify it. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 280 Like the flat torpedo fish, who torpifies those who come near him with the touch. |