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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“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
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said that young people should stiffen their spines and embrace hardship.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 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
This involves the buildup of dense, fibrous tissue around the tumor, made up of cells and proteins that stiffen and inflame the area.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 30, 2026
His Free Brothers were brave and eager for the fight, he claimed, but without the Unsullied to stiffen them he feared his unblooded troops might not have the discipline to face battle-seasoned sellswords by themselves.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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
That creates a curve or bend in the material, which also stiffens it.
From BBC ● Mar. 3, 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
My back stiffens, and defense rushes through me.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
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
Johnson’s move appears to have stiffened investors’ spines.
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 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
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
IPF is a chronic, progressive lung disease characterized by irreversible scarring and stiffening of lung tissue.
From Barron's ● Mar. 30, 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
“It’s split right down the middle,” said Major Sanderson, who had laced his lumpy GI shoes for the occasion and had slicked his charcoal-dull hair down with some stiffening and redolent tonic.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
Vocabulary lists containing stiffen
