Stiffen
['stɪf(ə)n] or ['stɪfn]
Definition
(verb.) make stiff or stiffer; 'Stiffen the cream by adding gelatine'.
(verb.) become stiff or stiffer; 'He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room'.
(verb.) restrict; 'Tighten the rules'; 'stiffen the regulations'.
Inputed by Cherie--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.
(v. t.) To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.
(v. t.) To make torpid; to benumb.
(v. i.) To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.
Typist: Melville
Examples
- I felt her stiffen away when I touched her. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Prof. Silliman, of Yale College, however, in the fall of 1839 testified to the results claimed for it by Mr. Goodyear--that it did not melt with heat, nor stiffen with the cold. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Fifteen shillings--Threepenn'orths Rum,' said Mr Dolls, making an attempt to stiffen himself. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- It would seem to stiffen his backbone and make him more prolific of new ideas. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- For a moment his muscles stiffened and relaxed convulsively, then he lay still. Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
- He was very thirsty, his wounds had stiffened, and one of the wounds in his left arm was very painful. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Lily flushed at the suddenness of the attack; then she stiffened under it and said coldly: And may I ask where you mean me to go? Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- His wounds had stiffened badly and he had much pain and he felt too tired to move. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- Meanwhile, the dough itself is influenced by the heat and is stiffened to such an extent that it retains its inflated shape and spongy nature. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- But they were all vague and indefinite with one another, stiffened in the fate that moved them apart. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- How different had this scene looked when I viewed it laid out beneath the iron sky of winter, stiffened in frost, shrouded with snow! Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- Mr. Langton Cole calls attention to the rope truss in this illustration, stiffening the beam of the ship. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I sha'n't be here long, he rejoined, his lips stiffening with the effort to say just so much and no more. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- She gave him back all his kiss, but after a moment he felt her stiffening in his arms, and she put him aside and stood up. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- His head hurt very much and his arm was stiffening so that the pain of moving it was almost unbearable. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- The clay for making these required a stiffening material. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- There's nothing betwixt stiffening yourself up, and throwing yourself away; take my word for that, old lady. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- There was a sudden jerk, a terrific convulsion of the limbs; and there he hung, with the open knife clenched in his stiffening hand. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
Checked by Brits