stiffen

“People get scared of the sway, the wobble. If you’ve had a fall before, you get a fear of falling again and you stiffen up, you become protective,” Swanson says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

These are, Mr. Freymann writes, “tempting targets,” but seizing them could stiffen the resolve of Taiwan and its Western friends.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

As these weaken and stiffen over time it can affect walking, talking, eating and breathing.

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 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

Qarl stirred in his sleep, and after a moment he began to stiffen.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

The illness causes breathing difficulties and creates scar tissue that stiffens the lungs, making it difficult to breathe and for oxygen to enter the bloodstream.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 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

More than 13% of Americans 75 and older have the condition, in which the aortic valve stiffens and narrows.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026

When the cell enters the next interphase and the asters reform, the cytoplasm stiffens again and stabilizes the band.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2026

She stiffens at first—must’ve caught her off guard—but then she says, “Me too, Rae. I’m glad, too.”

From "Odd One Out" by Nic Stone

Refusing to form such a coalition, even if it meant giving up a sure route to the prime ministry, would have stiffened this view.

From Slate ● Nov. 5, 2026

Others argued the particles stiffened the surrounding material like glue.

From Science Daily ● May 13, 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

Drive up the A34 road from Alfred the Great’s capital at Winchester to Oxford and you trace the forgotten spine of an older England, with stretches stiffened by Roman roads.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

The hair immediately stiffened, retaining the shape of the lock’s interior.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

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

IPF is a chronic, progressive lung disease characterized by irreversible scarring and stiffening of lung tissue.

From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 2026

The inquest was told rigor mortis - the stiffening of the body after death - had set in.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 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

Swimming gave him the chance to move and exercise his body, to uncramp it from the stiffening stillness of sitting with a chessboard or a book.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady