stiffen

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday that the loss of the servicemembers would stiffen the U.S.’s resolve.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 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

This approach enabled us to create a material that can bend, buckle, or stiffen differently under slow movements versus sudden impacts -- without electronics, sensors, or active control.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 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

Then I hear my own words and stiffen.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

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

Once the pH returns to normal, the tissue stiffens again and locks into its new form.

From Science Daily ● May 28, 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

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

His ears flap up in alarm, he stiffens, looks around him in haste, and jumps.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner

When the heart must work harder because of exercise, heat, stress or another cause, stiffened blood vessels may be less able to accommodate the increased blood flow.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 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

The barrels -- bound tightly with rope, their fabric skins stiffened and darkened with lacquer -- inevitably recall the Gulf's vast hydrocarbon wealth.

From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026

Her roles in the 1950s diminished in plausibility, and Crawford’s acting stiffened into rigid self-presentation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 21, 2025

Fadi stiffened, then melted into her embrace, which smelled of cardamom and cinnamon.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

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

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

Speaking to the BBC, he said with a "stiffening resolve" politicians could "take back control" of the levers of democracy.

From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2026

No wonder OpenAI’s Sam Altman issued a “code red” alert to employees urging them to step up the pace of chatbot development in the face of stiffening competition from the likes of Google’s Gemini.

From Barron's ● Dec. 3, 2025

I winced to picture them sewing the coarse material under a coal-oil lamp with fingers stiffening from the day’s work.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou