STIFFENING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Stiffening

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/stˈɪfənɪŋ/ /stˈɪfnɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Stiffen v. t. (past & past part. stiffened; pres. part. stiffening)

To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch. "Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood."

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

To make torpid; to benumb.

Stiffen v. i. To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective. "Like bristles rose my stiffening hair." "The tender soil then stiffening by degrees." "Some souls we see, Grow hard and stiffen with adversity."

noun

Stiffening n.

Act or process of making stiff.

Something used to make anything stiff.

Stiffening order (Com.), a permission granted by the customs department to take cargo or ballast on board before the old cargo is out, in order to steady the ship.

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Etymology of 'Stiffening'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Stiffening" Quotes from Famous Books

... but choked it off when he noted the angry stiffening of mademoiselle's figure. Somehow, her veiled countenance was impressive of lingering, bitter emotions. She was a Basque, and that was a primitive race. She was probably bold enough and hardy enough to fulfill ...

— Louisiana Lou • William West Winter

... the hills before the predicted stiffening came to such an extent that they decided it was wise to return ...

— Ungava Bob - A Winter's Tale • Dillon Wallace

... filling 1/16's cotton; 12 picks to the inch. Weight per yard, 1.8 ounces. These fabrics depend a great deal on the finishing. The men's wear requires less sizing on account of the hair it contains. The goods are piece dyed. Buckram is used principally for stiffening garments, and to give them shape or form. It is placed between the lining and the surface cloth of the garment in particular parts, such as the lapels, etc. It is used in the millinery trade, and is made into hats. Millinery buckram is ...

— Textiles • William H. Dooley

... Joanna was stiffening with grief. She had not expected to have this battle with Ellen; she had been prepared for abuse and upbraiding, but not for argument—it had not struck her that her sister would demand ...

— Joanna Godden • Sheila Kaye-Smith

... Funk ever mixed his favorite drink for R.L.S., but his own fame has spread, not as a healer, but as a dram-decocter, from Samoa to Tahiti. "Dr. Funk!" one hears in every club and bar. Its particular merits are claimed by experts to be a stiffening of the spine when one is all in; an imparting of courage to live to men ...

— White Shadows in the South Seas • Frederick O'Brien

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