v. (erron. torpify). [ad. L. torpefacĕre, f. torpē-re to be numb + facĕre to make.] trans. To render torpid, benumb, deaden, paralyse. Also fig. Hence Torpefying ppl. a.
1803. 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.
