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

"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

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

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

I saw Danny stiffen in his seat, throw me a quick, almost fearful glance, then look away.

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

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

This arrangement stiffens the chain of bones and allows it to transmit very high-pitched sounds more efficiently, a characteristic often seen in animals such as echolocating bats that can detect ultrasound.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2026

That creates a curve or bend in the material, which also stiffens it.

From BBC ● Mar. 3, 2026

Last year, Alibaba announced a plan to fold food-delivery and online-travel services into its e-commerce unit as competition stiffens in the Chinese market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 29, 2026

But today, instead of her usual greeting, Did you sleep well, Uhmma’s back stiffens and she quickly puts something into a brown paper bag she is holding at her side.

From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na

The Romans, their ranks stiffened by Genoese and Venetian troops, did their best to resist.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Others argued the particles stiffened the surrounding material like glue.

From Science Daily ● May 13, 2026

“But the cat stiffened and I stiffened whenever anybody moved, aware of all the possible lives being lived around us.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 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

When he opened them again, Koffi had stiffened.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

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

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

"Our observations are consistent across multiple length scales and link connective tissue stiffening to altered biochemical signaling in cancer cells."

From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 2026

Feeling for the first time that I could speak to listening ears, I wrote a wild, crude poem in free verse, coining images of black hands playing, working, holding bayonets, stiffening finally in death ...

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright