Lexic.us

Definition of Stiffen

1. Verb. Become stiff or stiffer. "He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room"

2. Verb. Make stiff or stiffer. "Stiffen the cream by adding gelatine"

3. Verb. Restrict. "Stiffen the regulations"

Definition of Stiffen

1. v. t. To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.

2. v. i. To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.

Definition of Stiffen

1. Verb. (transitive) To make stiff. ¹

2. Verb. (intransitive) To become stiff. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Stiffen

1. to make stiff [v -ED, -ING, -S] - See also: stiff

Lexicographical Neighbors of Stiffen

stiever stievest stifado stiff-arm stiff-backed stiff-hearted stiff-necked stiff-tailed duck stiff-tailed ducks stiff aster

stiff gentian stiff person syndrome stiff upper lip stiffed stiffen (current term) stiffened stiffener stiffeners stiffening stiffenings

stiffens stiffer stiffest stiffie stiffies stiffing stiffish stifflike stiffly

Literary usage of Stiffen

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Problems of the Finishing Room: A Reference and Formula Manual for Furniture by Walter Karl Schmidt (1916)
"Some have gone so far as to use a thin glue-size on the wood to stiffen the fuzz so that ... The shellac will stiffen and hold erect whatever fuzz remains, ..."

2. The Poetical Works of John Dryden by John Dryden (1909)
"The noise approaches, tho' our palace stood Aloof from streets, encompass'd with a us hair and beard stood stiffen'd with his gore; ind all the wounds he ..."

3. Studies of a Biographer by Leslie Stephen (1902)
"It is the ' very law of their being' that they ' should stiffen' into formalism. He could still, after parting from Newman, enlarge upon the central idea of ..."

4. The Port Folio by Joseph Dennie, Asbury Dickins (1822)
"u shriek, not a prayer; he closed the stiffen! :,g eye-hds over tlie soft but ghastly orbs ; kissed the brow, the check, the lips, the bosom, ..."

5. Life of Jonathan Trumbull, Sen., Governor of Connecticut by Isaac William Stuart (1859)
"... for promoting Arts and Commerce. and circulates their pamphlets. His creditors forbear to press him. Adversity serves but to stiffen his energies. ..."

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