stiffen
[stif-uh n]
- to make stiff.
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- to become stiff.
- to become suddenly tense, rigid, or taut, as in bracing oneself for or drawing back from shock, fear, or displeasure: He stiffened, expecting to hear the worst.
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Origin of stiffen
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
strengthen, reinforce, solidify, stabilize, thicken, set, freeze, clot, prop, petrify, jell, inspissate, fix, condense, ossify, tauten, congeal, precipitate, inflate, annealExamples from the Web for stiffen
Contemporary Examples
The embrace caused Susskind to stiffen up “like an unwilling virgin,” he later said.
She would break down to some degree, and then stiffen back up.
Historical Examples
Even as he held it up for all of them to see, his limbs began to jerk and stiffen.
The Trail BookMary Austin
But they seemed to her to stiffen, against her will, and her embrace was surely mechanical.
A Spirit in PrisonRobert Hichens
And all the time his eyes were upon his wife, and I saw her stiffen as if she had been struck.
The Strolling SaintRaphael Sabatini
White and tense, her hands clenched, Rosamund seemed to stiffen before him.
The Sea-HawkRaphael Sabatini
Little by little his slack body began to stiffen; little by little he raised himself.
Once to Every ManLarry Evans
stiffen
- to make or become stiff or stiffer
- (intr) to become suddenly tense or unyielding
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for stiffen
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper