King James Bible Dictionary

STIFFEN, verb transitive

1. To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.

He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart from turning to the Lord God of Israel. 2 Chronicles 36:13.

STIFFEN the sinews; summon up the blood.

2. To make torpid; as stiffening grief.

3. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.

STIFFEN, verb intransitive

1. To become stiff; to become more rigid or less flexible.

--Like bristles rose my stiffning hair.

2. To become more thick, or less soft; to be inspissated; to approach to hardness; as, melted substances stiffen as they cool.

The tender soil then stiffning by degrees--

3. To become less susceptible of impression; to become less susceptible of impression; to become less tender or yielding; to grow more obstinate.

Some souls, we see, grow hard and stiffen with adversity.

STIFFENING, participle present tense Making or becoming less pliable, or more thick, or more obstinate.

STIFFENING, noun Something that is used to make a substance more stiff or less soft.