stiffen

stiffen
    v 1: become stiff or stiffer; "He stiffened when he saw his boss
         enter the room" [ant: {loose}, {loosen}, {relax}]
    2: make stiff or stiffer; "Stiffen the cream by adding gelatine"
       [ant: {loose}, {loosen}]
    3: restrict; "Tighten the rules"; "stiffen the regulations"
       [syn: {stiffen}, {tighten}, {tighten up}, {constrain}]
    

Stiffen \Stiff"en\, v. i.
   To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.
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         Like bristles rose my stiffening hair.   --Dryden.
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         The tender soil then stiffening by degrees. --Dryden.
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         Some souls we see,
         Grow hard and stiffen with adversity.    --Dryden.
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Stiffen \Stiff"en\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Stiffened}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Stiffening}.] [See {Stiff}.]
   1. To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to
      stiffen cloth with starch.
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            Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. --Shak.
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   2. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to
      stiffen paste.
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   3. To make torpid; to benumb.
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59 Moby Thesaurus words for "stiffen":
      amplify, back, be tough, beef up, brace, brace up, buttress,
      case harden, charge, clot, coagulate, confirm, congeal,
      crystallize, electrify, endure, energize, fortify, galvanize,
      generate, gird, hang tough, harden, invigorate, jell, loop in,
      nerve, plug in, prop, refresh, reinforce, reinvigorate,
      restrengthen, rigidify, screw up, set, shock, shore up, short,
      short-circuit, solidify, steel, step down, step up, strengthen,
      support, sustain, switch off, switch on, tauten, temper, tense,
      thicken, tighten, toughen, trice up, turn off, turn on,
      undergird