stiffen

Depending on the situation, the material can bend, buckle, or stiffen in different ways, all without electronics, sensors, or active control systems.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 11, 2026

If Powell stays, that arithmetic becomes even harder, and it could stiffen the resolve of other governors whose terms run beyond Powell’s, said Wilcox.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 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

Calling the eradication of extortion “one of the great challenges” facing Mexico, Sheinbaum pledged to bolster enforcement, stiffen penalties and increase safeguards for anyone receiving threats.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025

And this caused her to stiffen with a tentative anger against Florence, and with pride and fear.

From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin

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

Metcalf, bringing all her blue-collar brilliance to the role, stiffens Linda’s spine.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 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

Grandma tenses her jaw, and her body stiffens.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Others argued the particles stiffened the surrounding material like glue.

From Science Daily ● May 13, 2026

And sure enough, as UConn’s shots started falling and its defense stiffened against Boozer’s attacks, the deficit narrowed.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 30, 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

When he had come to visit, she embraced him at the door, but he stiffened and politely shrugged her off.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

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

These findings further support the idea that chronic inflammation drives tissue stiffening.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 24, 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

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