as in to isolate
to deliberately ignore or treat rudely
in his sad and lonely old age, he stiff-armed even once-beloved friends
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Recent Examples of stiff-arm
There was more than a grain of truth to the lament by Pence and company that the Democrats in Washington were stiff-arming comprehensive immigration legislation backed by Republicans and the Trump administration.
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John C. Moritz, Austin American-Statesman, 11 Feb. 2024
Washington’s offense still controlled the ball and clock enough, however, to stiff-arm the Giants’ late push away.
—Pat Leonard, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2024
McIntosh once again showcased his burst and contact balance, fighting through defenders, stiff-arming tacklers and falling forward to generate explosive runs.
—Michael-Shawn Dugar, The Athletic, 17 Aug. 2024
Pearsall turned upfield and raced Antoine Winfield Jr. down the sideline, stiff-arming the Tampa Bay safety and fighting off his tackle to reach the end zone just before being hauled out of bounds.
—Michael Nowels, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024
In fact, the ghosting of Biden may have to become a stiff-arm from Harris herself in these final days if her bid to block Trump is to have even odds.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
During the eighth day of training camp, Estime received a handoff before delivering a vicious stiff-arm on edge rusher Thomas Incoom near the sideline, generating a handful of cheers from the Broncos faithful on the berm.
—Ryan McFadden, The Denver Post, 11 Aug. 2024
Earlier in practice, Latu struggled to shed Yiadom’s stiff-arm on a run play.
—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 2 Aug. 2024
In the midst of the brouhaha, there was Lorentz stiff-arming a pair of Oilers — Philip Broberg with his right arm, Brown with his left.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 10 June 2024
John C. Moritz, Austin American-Statesman, 11 Feb. 2024
Washington’s offense still controlled the ball and clock enough, however, to stiff-arm the Giants’ late push away.
—Pat Leonard, Hartford Courant, 3 Nov. 2024
McIntosh once again showcased his burst and contact balance, fighting through defenders, stiff-arming tacklers and falling forward to generate explosive runs.
—Michael-Shawn Dugar, The Athletic, 17 Aug. 2024
Pearsall turned upfield and raced Antoine Winfield Jr. down the sideline, stiff-arming the Tampa Bay safety and fighting off his tackle to reach the end zone just before being hauled out of bounds.
—Michael Nowels, The Mercury News, 10 Nov. 2024
In fact, the ghosting of Biden may have to become a stiff-arm from Harris herself in these final days if her bid to block Trump is to have even odds.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
During the eighth day of training camp, Estime received a handoff before delivering a vicious stiff-arm on edge rusher Thomas Incoom near the sideline, generating a handful of cheers from the Broncos faithful on the berm.
—Ryan McFadden, The Denver Post, 11 Aug. 2024
Earlier in practice, Latu struggled to shed Yiadom’s stiff-arm on a run play.
—Cam Inman, The Mercury News, 2 Aug. 2024
In the midst of the brouhaha, there was Lorentz stiff-arming a pair of Oilers — Philip Broberg with his right arm, Brown with his left.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 10 June 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stiff-arm
Verb
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His statements — including Holocaust denial, racist denunciations of Muslims and immigrants, and his 1987 proposal to forcibly isolate people with AIDS in special facilities — shocked his critics and strained his political alliances.Thomas Adamson, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025
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This was meant to isolate the effect of processing.Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The dialogue was ham-handed, the performances stiff, the villain lame, the story stupid.Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 19 July 2024
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The 100 percent carbon shaft of the Storm 2 is strong enough to withstand freakish plants that would normally end in snapping, light enough (at 75 grams per meter) to prevent fatigue after repetitive motion, and stiff enough to propel us forward.Stephanie Pearson, Outside Online, 10 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Although Denver and Adams County voters rejected the tax, the measure won with strong support from the suburbs.Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post, 6 Jan. 2025
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In the last presidential election, a member from each chamber needed to object to the count to force lawmakers to debate and vote on whether to accept or reject a state's results.Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 6 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Today, Ukrainian troops repulsed yet another attack by the 810th Naval Infantry Brigade around Pogrebki, the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies reported.David Axe, Forbes, 7 Jan. 2025
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Challenged and Denounced Millions were repulsed by Mr. Le Pen’s statements.Robert D. McFadden, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Nordstrom announced plans last year to shutter its Canadian operations, closing all stores in the country and cutting 2,500 jobs.Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 24 Dec. 2024
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Then it’s rinsed, milled, aerated, and finally passed through a machine that cuts the resulting masa dough into perfect tortillas and griddles them.Kristen V. Brown, The Atlantic, 23 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Russian counteroffensives, while successful in halting Ukraine's advances and pushing its soldiers out of the territory gained in the first few weeks, have so far failed to entirely repel Kyiv back to its borders.Hugh Cameron, Newsweek, 26 Dec. 2024
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The backpack repelled water, gave me easy access to my umbrella, and kept all my valuables dry.Laura Lajiness Kaupke, Glamour, 20 Dec. 2024
Verb
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At the beginning of the year, Jay-Z called out the Recording Academy for snubbing his wife by never awarding her album of the year.Caché McClay, USA TODAY, 9 Dec. 2024
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The hosts have likely planned out activities accordingly, and to leave early would be to snub their efforts.Betsy Cribb Watson, Southern Living, 8 Dec. 2024
Verb
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The deference being shown to the Big Ten and SEC conferences isn’t sitting well with some outsiders, who feel they are being slighted by the CFP selection committee.Kevin Dotson, CNN, 19 Nov. 2024
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But also, if a referee makes a controversial call against a fan, that fan's going to feel like they were slighted, just like the players do.Felecia Wellington Radel, USA TODAY, 2 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near stiff-arm
Cite this Entry
“Stiff-arm.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stiff-arm. Accessed 12 Jan. 2025.
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