Definitions for: Stiffen


[v] make stiff or stiffer; "Stiffen the cream by adding gelatine"
[v] become stiff or stiffer; "He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room"
[v] restrict; "Tighten the rules"; "stiffen the regulations"



Webster (1913) Definition: 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.

Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. --Shak.

2. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to
stiffen paste.

3. To make torpid; to benumb.


Stiff"en, v. i.
To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.

Like bristles rose my stiffening hair. --Dryden.

The tender soil then stiffening by degrees. --Dryden.

Some souls we see, Grow hard and stiffen with
adversity. --Dryden.

Synonyms: constrain, tighten, tighten up

Antonyms: loose, loosen, relax

See Also: alter, bound, buckram, change, confine, limit, ossify, petrify, restrain, restrict, rigidify, starch, stiffen, throttle, trammel

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