Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PU'TRE-FY, v.t. [Fr. putrefier; L. putrefacio; putris, putrid, and facio, to make.]

1. To cause to be decomposed; to disorganize and reduce to the simple constituent elements, or more simple compounds, 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.] – Shak.
3. To make morbid, carious or gangrenous; as, to putrefy an ulcer or wound. – Wiseman. Temple.