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

“It probably would stiffen their spine,” said Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst who wrote a biography of Castro and his older brother Fidel Castro.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 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

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

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

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

My body stiffens as I click through every possible message location again.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

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

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

At Helene’s stiffening shoulders, he glances between us and makes a quick departure.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir