Library / English Dictionary

STIFFEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make stiff or stiffer

Example:

Stiffen the cream by adding gelatine

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "stiffen" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Cause:

stiffen (become stiff or stiffer)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stiffen"):

starch (stiffen with starch)

buckram (stiffen with or as with buckram)

ossify; petrify; rigidify (make rigid and set into a conventional pattern)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

loosen (make loose or looser)

Derivation:

stiffener (material used for stiffening something)

stiffening (the process of becoming stiff or rigid)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become stiff or stiffer

Example:

He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "stiffen" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stiffen"):

rigidify (become rigid)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Antonym:

loosen (become loose or looser or less tight)

Derivation:

stiffening (the act of becoming stiff)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Severely restrict in scope or extent

Example:

stiffen the regulations

Synonyms:

constrain; stiffen; tighten; tighten up

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "stiffen" is one way to...):

bound; confine; limit; restrict; throttle; trammel (place limits on (extent or amount or access))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

The frail figure stiffened itself, as though he were visibly bracing himself for an effort.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There is no current treatment for hardening of the arteries, which is caused by build-up of bone-like calcium deposits, stiffening the arteries and restricting blood flow to organs and tissues.

(Cause of hardening of the arteries – and potential treatment – identified, University of Cambridge)

Two hours of cursing and exertion got the harnesses into shape, and the wound-stiffened team was under way, struggling painfully over the hardest part of the trail they had yet encountered, and for that matter, the hardest between them and Dawson.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

But the fatal blow never fell, for even as his arm quivered before descending, the Spaniard gave a shudder, and stiffening himself rolled heavily over upon his side, with the blood gushing from his armpit and from the slit of his vizor.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Common problems include: • Injuries that result in fractures, ruptured ligaments and dislocations • Osteoarthritis - wear-and-tear arthritis. It can also cause deformity. • Tendinitis - irritation of the tendons • Dupuytren's contracture - a hereditary thickening of the tough tissue that lies just below the skin of your palm. It causes the fingers to stiffen and bend. • Trigger finger - an irritation of the sheath that surrounds the flexor tendons. It can cause the tendon to catch and release like a trigger.

(Finger Injuries and Disorders, NIH)

I stiffened myself to refuse, and shook my head.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

His ankle had stiffened, his limp was more pronounced, but the pain of it was as nothing compared with the pain of his stomach.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

A multi-disciplinary research team studied young and old rat brains to understand the impact of age-related brain stiffening on the function of oligodendrocyte progenitor cells (OPCs).

(Cambridge scientists reverse ageing process in rat brain stem cells, University of Cambridge)

But when the stranger's walk became stiff-legged and his lips lifted clear of his teeth, White Fang stiffened too, and answered with lifted lips.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

'With their rifles grasped in their stiffened hands, mid a ring of the dead and dyin',' as some fathead sings.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)