Link Centre Dictionary

stiffen

stif·fen

UK/ˈstɪfən/ US/ˈstɪfʌn/ rare

verb

1.

become stiff or stiffer

  • “He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room”
Antonyms
2.

make stiff or stiffer

  • “Stiffen the cream by adding gelatine”
Antonyms
3.

restrict

  • “Tighten the rules”
  • “stiffen the regulations”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English stifnen, equivalent to stiff + -en.

Phrases

  • stiffen up

Related words

Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.