stiffen

Verb

Meaning

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

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

To make torpid; to benumb.

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

Source: Webster's dictionary

Synonyms

constrain tighten tighten up fort harden set prop steel firm cement tense strengthen fix anchor gel
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Antonyms

loosen colt fight combat challenge wire
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Hypernyms

change trammel limit bound alter modify

Hyponyms

starch petrify buckram ossify rigidify

Phrases with the word

stiffen the resolve of de-stiffen

Derivatives

stiffened stiffening

Examples

tighten the rules Source: Internet

stiffen the regulations Source: Internet

Stiffen the cream by adding gelatine Source: Internet

He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room Source: Internet

A braced monoplane wing must support itself fully, while the two wings of a biplane help to stiffen each other. Source: Internet

Although in 1979 Murray was the first to use lightweight " carbon fibre composite " panels to stiffen Brabham's aluminium alloy monocoques, he echoed his predecessor Tauranac in being the last to switch to the new fully composite monocoques. Source: Internet

Close letter words and terms

stiff-upper-lipped stiff-upper-lippedness stiff-upper-lippery stiffen the resolve of stiffen up stiffener