as in to strengthen
to make more harsh, uncompromising, or severe
plans to further stiffen the already onerous requirements for admission to the elite military unit
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Recent Examples of stiffen
Spritzing the end of the thread with hairspray will stiffen it just enough to be able to be threaded more easily, but keeps enough flexibility to be used.
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Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 5 Jan. 2025
Restrictive cardiomyopathy: Another rare type, this causes heart muscles to stiffen, which in turn prevents the heart’s ventricles from filling with enough blood to pump throughout the body.
—Elizabeth Millard, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024
But the Ravens defense stiffened at the right time, sacking Wilson with defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike delivering a crunching sack on a third-down play to force a punt as the third quarter came to an end.
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 12 Jan. 2025
The schedule stiffens now, starting with Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies at home on Saturday.
—Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stiffen
Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 5 Jan. 2025
Restrictive cardiomyopathy: Another rare type, this causes heart muscles to stiffen, which in turn prevents the heart’s ventricles from filling with enough blood to pump throughout the body.
—Elizabeth Millard, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024
But the Ravens defense stiffened at the right time, sacking Wilson with defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike delivering a crunching sack on a third-down play to force a punt as the third quarter came to an end.
—Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 12 Jan. 2025
The schedule stiffens now, starting with Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies at home on Saturday.
—Jon Krawczynski, The Athletic, 10 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stiffen
Cite this Entry
“Stiffen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stiffen. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
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