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
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
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
She felt herself stiffen, and it was all she could do not to back away and run.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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
Over time, inflammation can progress to fibrosis and scarring that stiffens the liver.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026
Fina stiffens just a little as she sits down across from me.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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
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
Marinello said that could change if countries stiffened the penalties for stealing cultural heritage by calling it cultural terrorism.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
If she begged the child to bend, he stiffened.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
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
His burned hand was stiffening up on him, and soon it began to ache.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
Vocabulary lists containing stiffen
