PU'TREFY, v.t. [L. putrefacio; putris,putrid, and facio, to make.]
1. To cause to dissolve; to disorganize and reduce to the simple constituent elements, as animal or vegetable bodies; to cause to rot. Heat and moisture soon putrefy dead flesh or vegetables.
2. To corrupt; to make foul; as, to putrefy the air. [Little used.]
3. To make morbid, carious or gangrenous; as, to putrefy an ulcer or wound.
PU'TREFY, v.i. To dissolve and return to the original distinct elements, as animal and vegetable substances deprived of the living principle; to rot.
