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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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
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
I saw the tiny body of The Grand High Witch stiffen and then go rigid with rage.
From "The Witches" by Roald Dahl
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
Over time, inflammation can progress to fibrosis and scarring that stiffens the liver.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 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
Autumn stiffens at the second mention of Tano.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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
He pretended to be mesmerized by the scabs on his knuckles, but I caught the way he stiffened.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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
Because microtubules can influence how stiff the cytoplasm is, the researchers asked whether asters might help anchor the actin band by stiffening the cell interior.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 28, 2026
It smashed 300-pound spheres swinging on a pendulum into a fuselage panel to deliberately damage it, causing one of the stiffening rods to break, then repeatedly applied loads representative of those in flight 40,000 times.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 15, 2024
There was a stiffening breeze kicking up the waves beyond the breakwaters and he smiled thinking of what his uncle Owen called waves.
From "The Voyage Of The Frog" by Gary Paulsen
Vocabulary lists containing stiffen
