DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 stiffening
 加勁; 使硬; 剛性連接; 勁化

 Stiff·en v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stiffened p. pr. & vb. n. Stiffening.]
 1. To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.
    Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.   --Shak.
 2. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.
 3. To make torpid; to benumb.

 Stiff·en·ing, n.
 1. Act or process of making stiff.
 2. Something used to make anything stiff.
 Stiffening order Com., a permission granted by the customs department to take cargo or ballast on board before the old cargo is out, in order to steady the ship.
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 stiffening
      n 1: the act of becoming stiff; "stiffening his shoulders, he
           prepared to advance"
      2: the process of becoming stiff or rigid [syn: rigidifying,
         rigidification]