How to Use stiffen in a Sentence

stiffen

verb
  • The dogs stiffened in alarm.
  • The law would stiffen penalties for tax evasion.
  • She stiffened when he grabbed her shoulder.
  • The light stiffens and grabs hold of us.
    — Literary Hub, 7 Nov. 2025
  • The moose flinched and stiffened.
    — Fred Bear, Outdoor Life, 11 June 2026
  • Dogs may lick their lips, yawn, stiffen or turn away.
    — Cathy M. Rosenthal, San Antonio Express-News, 19 Mar. 2026
  • His eyes locked to the right, his tiny body stiffened and his face turned red.
    — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 19 May 2026
  • Leaving them out for too long can cause the fibers to stiffen.
    — Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Her foot stiffens first and then her entire body locks in place.
    — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 June 2024
  • Starling saw his hands stiffen, legs lock and mouth foam.
    — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 13 Nov. 2025
  • When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened.
    — Meghan Overdeep, Southern Living, 21 Feb. 2018
  • Nicks on the edge or stiffened, curled rubber will leave streaks.
    — Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 12 June 2026
  • But as the years progress, his joints will stiffen and his muzzle will gray.
    — Emily Anthes, New York Times, 28 Nov. 2023
  • June stiffened, a pillar of ice.
    — Meredith Maran, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026
  • This is when a frog stiffens its outstretched arms and legs to appear dead.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 12 Oct. 2023
  • When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.
    — Mark Price, Lavendrick Smith and Jane Wester, charlotteobserver, 21 Feb. 2018
  • The nail seemed to have expanded and warped and stiffened.
    — Kate Crane, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Once Bud stepped in the ring, his face went cold and his cheekbones stiffened.
    — Tyler R. Tynes, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2023
  • His tiny arms and legs would stiffen for a few seconds as many as 30 times per hour.
    — Sarah Elizabeth Richards, chicagotribune.com, 11 June 2018
  • The only way to counter normative drift is to stiffen the guardrails.
    — David Montgomery, Washington Post, 10 Nov. 2020
  • My body stiffened, and the blood from my beating heart pounded between my ears.
    — Anna Lebaron, Good Housekeeping, 1 Mar. 2017
  • The hour before midnight and the deadline, the grass and ground stiffened with frost.
    — Nic Robertson, CNN, 9 Oct. 2019
  • There was a sudden spring shower, which stiffened into rain.
    — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 14 May 2026
  • Cream of tartar or 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice can be used to help the meringue stiffen.
    — Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Dec. 2025
  • The suspension tune is rather soft, but the adaptive dampers stiffen in an instant.
    — Jens Meiners, Car and Driver, 6 Nov. 2020
  • The surprise is that the glare of that spotlight only stiffens Gun’s spine.
    — Ty Burr, BostonGlobe.com, 4 Sep. 2019
  • This system works like a vacuum that sucks air out from the coffee grounds to stiffen and loosen the foot.
    — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, 3 June 2020
  • Drew stiffened as Theo Wiggins headed his way.
    — Literary Hub, 17 Oct. 2025
  • The dough will be very soft in the beginning but will stiffen after about 1½ minutes.
    — Sarah Fritsche, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 June 2018
  • Look for the Colts to stiffen up for much of this game and disallow Rodgers to run up the score.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 17 Nov. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stiffen.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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