[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/fossilised/)

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# fossilised

adjective (fossilised); verb past form of fossilise (fossilise, fossilises, fossilised, fossilising); US spelling fossilized

«fossilised» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. Turned into a fossil: the remains or print of a plant or animal that has slowly turned to stone over millions of years. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/#m1)
2. (figurative) Old-fashioned and unable to change, like ideas or rules stuck in the past. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/#m2)

### In the lessons

In science and history lessons it comes with dinosaurs, ammonites, ancient trees and rocks: a fossilised bone tells the reader the creature lived very long ago. Also fossilised footprints, fossilised poo (coprolite), fossilised wood. In opinion writing, fossilised ideas are ones that never change.

### Examples

- We found a fossilised shell on the beach at Lyme Regis. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/#x1)
- The museum shows a fossilised dinosaur egg. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/#x2)
- Fossilised footprints prove that the animals walked here. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/#x3)
- Amber can hold a fossilised insect inside it. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/#x4)
- Over millions of years, the tree trunk fossilised into stone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/#x5)
- My uncle says the school rules are fossilised and need updating. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/#x6)

### Note

UK-style spelling fossilised; US fossilized. Fossilisation takes a very long time, usually thousands to millions of years, not a few years. Not every dead animal becomes a fossil; most rot away.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «fossilised» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fossilised/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«fossilised» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/fossilised.html) on Mova free.