Stiffen

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Stiffen \Stiff"en\, v. i.
     To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Like bristles rose my stiffening hair.   --Dryden.
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           The tender soil then stiffening by degrees. --Dryden.
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           Some souls we see,
           Grow hard and stiffen with adversity.    --Dryden.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Stiffen \Stiff"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Stiffened}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Stiffening}.] [See {Stiff}.]
     1. To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to
        stiffen cloth with starch.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. --Shak.
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     2. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to
        stiffen paste.
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     3. To make torpid; to benumb.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  stiffen
       v 1: become stiff or stiffer; "He stiffened when he saw his boss
            enter the room" [ant: {loosen}]
       2: make stiff or stiffer; "Stiffen the cream by adding
          gelatine" [ant: {loosen}]
       3: restrict; "Tighten the rules"; "stiffen the regulations"
          [syn: {tighten}, {tighten up}, {constrain}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  59 Moby Thesaurus words for "stiffen":
     amplify, back, be tough, beef up, brace, brace up, buttress,
     case harden, charge, clot, coagulate, confirm, congeal,
     crystallize, electrify, endure, energize, fortify, galvanize,
     generate, gird, hang tough, harden, invigorate, jell, loop in,
     nerve, plug in, prop, refresh, reinforce, reinvigorate,
     restrengthen, rigidify, screw up, set, shock, shore up, short,
     short-circuit, solidify, steel, step down, step up, strengthen,
     support, sustain, switch off, switch on, tauten, temper, tense,
     thicken, tighten, toughen, trice up, turn off, turn on,
     undergird