Hypertext Webster Gateway: "stiffening"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Stiffening \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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
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}]
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