What does stiffen mean?
Definitions for stiffen
ˈstɪf ənstiff·en
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word stiffen.
Princeton's WordNet
stiffenverb
become stiff or stiffer
"He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room"
stiffenverb
make stiff or stiffer
"Stiffen the cream by adding gelatine"
stiffen, tighten, tighten up, constrainverb
restrict
"Tighten the rules"; "stiffen the regulations"
Wiktionary
stiffenverb
To make stiff.
stiffenverb
To become stiff.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
To Stiffenverb
Etymology: stifian , Saxon.
When the blast of war blows in our ears,
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard favour’d rage. William Shakespeare, H. V.He stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the Lord. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 13.
The poor, by them disrobed, naked lie,
Veil’d with no other covering but the sky;
Expos’d to stiff’ning frosts, and drenching showers,
Which thicken’d air from her black bosom pours. George Sandys.Her eyes grow stiffen’d, and with sulphur burn. Dryden.
Her stiff’ning grief,
Who saw her children slaughter’d all at once,
Was dull to mine. John Dryden.To Stiffenverb
Aghast, astonish’d, and struck dumb with fear,
I stood; like bristles rose my stiff’ning hair. Dryden.Fix’d in astonishment I gaze upon thee,
Like one just blasted by a stroke from heaven,
Who pants for breath, and stiffens yet alive;
In dreadful looks, a monument of wrath. Joseph Addison, Cato.The tender soil, then stiffening by degrees,
Shut from the bounded earth the bounding seas. Dryden.Some souls, we see,
Grow hard and stiffen with adversity. Dryden.
ChatGPT
stiffen
To make or become rigid or firm, often in order to strengthen or restrict movement. This action can apply to physical objects, body parts, or attitudes and behaviors.
Webster Dictionary
Stiffenverb
to make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch
Stiffenverb
to inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste
Stiffenverb
to make torpid; to benumb
Stiffenverb
to become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective
Etymology: [See Stiff.]
Matched Categories
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
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Anagrams for stiffen »
infefts
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of stiffen in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of stiffen in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of stiffen in a Sentence
Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, Or close the wall up with our English dead In peace there's nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.
Our live experiences, fixed in aphorisms, stiffen into cold epigrams. Our heart's blood, as we write it, turns to mere dull ink.
He’s got a significant bone bruise there, but the X-ray was negative so it’s just real sore. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow, it takes a while for it to bark. He slid, he felt it, but it was sore already. But it’s just like if something’s sore, you hit it again, it hurts again. If it was going to stiffen up more, that’s why sometimes you get a guy out right away and put ice on it.
She would just stare and stiffen, sometimes she would shake uncontrollably, she always loses control of her body so she’ll drop on the floor and bang her head.
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Translations for stiffen
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
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"stiffen." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 10 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/stiffen>.
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