stiffen
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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"He'd started to stiffen because he had been there for so long, dead, with no-one noticing. It's horrific to think someone's loved one died with no one near them."
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
Depending on the situation, the material can bend, buckle, or stiffen in different ways, all without electronics, sensors, or active control systems.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026
If Powell stays, that arithmetic becomes even harder, and it could stiffen the resolve of other governors whose terms run beyond Powell’s, said Wilcox.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
She has also vowed to stiffen prison sentences and to impose a state of emergency in areas worst hit by crime.
From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026
Struts and diagonal rods ran between the two wheels to stiffen the assembly and give it the strength of a railroad bridge.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Once the pH returns to normal, the tissue stiffens again and locks into its new form.
From Science Daily ● May 28, 2026
The biggest reason is that our maximum heart rate slows with age, and the heart muscle stiffens, reducing its pumping effectiveness.
From Barron's ● May 23, 2026
Metcalf, bringing all her blue-collar brilliance to the role, stiffens Linda’s spine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026
That creates a curve or bend in the material, which also stiffens it.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026
Beside me, Helene’s body stiffens like water freezing into ice.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
When the heart must work harder because of exercise, heat, stress or another cause, stiffened blood vessels may be less able to accommodate the increased blood flow.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
And sure enough, as UConn’s shots started falling and its defense stiffened against Boozer’s attacks, the deficit narrowed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 2026
They reckon it may have stiffened the resolve of the German public and discouraged rebels within the dying Nazi regime.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 12, 2026
Johnson’s move appears to have stiffened investors’ spines.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
Sheed stiffened, expecting some monstrous, cackling squeal of a voice.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Softening rather than stiffening when moving through space requires embracing your body’s natural sway and tiny micro-movements, like an ankle wobbling or knee jiggling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
It’s hard to imagine a greater accomplishment than to achieve peace while stiffening the sinews of deterrence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 1, 2026
No wonder OpenAI’s Sam Altman issued a “code red” alert to employees urging them to step up the pace of chatbot development in the face of stiffening competition from the likes of Google’s Gemini.
From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025
With certain diseases, stiffening organs can become more pronounced, signaling a potentially precipitous health decline.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 9, 2024
She could never be sure what thoughts were hidden behind that impassive face, but she had learned to recognize the sudden stiffening of his jaw muscles that meant she had said something shocking.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
Vocabulary lists containing stiffen
