stiffen
to make stiff.
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.
Origin of stiffen
1Other words from stiffen
- o·ver·stiff·en, verb
- un·stiff·ened, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use stiffen in a sentence
Excess sodium narrows and stiffens blood vessels, raising blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease, stroke and other serious medical conditions.
Americans can’t cut back on salt. One likely reason: Packaged and prepared foods are filled with it. | Marlene Cimons | January 31, 2021 | Washington PostShe also recommends mobility work like foam rolling, dynamic stretching, and body-weight movements to offset stiffening tendons and ligaments.
A couple of us returned with a coat hanger and succeeded at pulling the stiffened, misshapen orb into the daylight.
Meanwhile, the states are tightening, while the Feds ease, by stiffening the ZEV standards.
Tesla’s biggest profit center is dangerously close to running out of power | Shawn Tully | September 30, 2020 | FortuneLed by California, states are stiffening the standards—and that’s welcome news for Tesla.
Tesla’s biggest profit center is dangerously close to running out of power | Shawn Tully | September 30, 2020 | Fortune
The bearded volunteer, wearing an over-sized black flack jacket, said rebel resistance had stiffened.
Ukraine Rebels Boast About Troops and Tanks Coming from Russia | Jamie Dettmer | August 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTI was in a daze, still wearing clothes stiffened with evaporated sea salt.
How Military Veterans Led Sandy Volunteer Efforts | Peter Meijer | October 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAt the crucial moment, she stiffened George HW Bush's spine to fight to rescue Kuwait in the first Gulf War.
How Margaret Thatcher Saved Britain and Changed the World | David Frum | April 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIt stiffened Israeli backs even further against being conciliatory about starting talks with the Palestinians.
This powerhouse of a speaker stiffened the spine of a president too eager to bend before the false promise of bipartisanship.
Abner stiffened, grew tense, as one becomes at the moment of bursting into dynamic action, but he did not stir.
Scattergood Baines | Clarence Budington KellandIt can be stiffened by girders and bracing and is then of mixed type, when it loses much of its advantage in economy.
Nevertheless, the stiffened suspension bridge will probably be the type adopted in future for very great spans.
The vertical sides of the girders are stiffened so that they amount to 40% of the whole weight.
The original design was for a stiffened suspension bridge, but after the fall of the Tay bridge in 1879 this was abandoned.
British Dictionary definitions for stiffen
/ (ˈstɪfən) /
to make or become stiff or stiffer
(intr) to become suddenly tense or unyielding
Derived forms of stiffen
- stiffener, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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