| stiff | 1. Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not limber or flaccid; rigid; firm; as, stiff wood, paper, joints. "[They] rising on stiff pennons, tower The mid aerial sky." (Milton) 2. Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious; inspissated; neither soft nor hard; as, the paste is stiff. 3. Firm; strong; violent; difficult to oppose; as, a stiff gale or breeze. 4. Not easily subdued; unyielding; stubborn; obstinate; pertinacious; as, a stiff adversary. "It is a shame to stand stiff in a foolish argument." (Jer. Taylor) "A war ensues: the Cretans own their cause, Stiff to defend their hospitable laws." (Dryden) 5. Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style. "The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff, ceremonious, and reserved." (Addison) 6. Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear. "This is stiff news." 7. Bearing a press of canvas without careening much; as, a stiff vessel; opposed to crank. 8. Very large, strong, or costly; powerful; as, a stiff charge; a stiff price. Stiff neck, a condition of the neck such that the head can not be moved without difficulty and pain. Synonym: Rigid, inflexible, strong, hardly, stubborn, obstinate, pertinacious, harsh, formal, constrained, affected, starched, rigorous. Origin: OE. Stif, AS. Stif; akin to D. Stijf, G. Steif, Dan. Stiv, Sw. Styf, Icel. Stifr, Lith. Stipti to be stiff; cf. L. Stipes a post, trunk of a tree, stipare to press, compress. Cf. Costive, Stifle, Stipulate, Stive to stuff. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| stiff heart syndrome | <syndrome> Any condition, usually acute, that causes the heart to be restricted in diastole mainly affecting the ventricles and at one time a complication of cardiac surgery. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stiff lamb disease | A muscular dystrophy occurring in young lambs fed on ewe's milk or on feed that is deficient in vitamin E or selenium, or both. See: white muscle disease. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stiff neck | Non-specific term for limited neck mobility, often due to muscle cramps and accompanied by pain. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stiff toe | A condition in which there is stiffness in the first metatarsophalangeal joint; the joint may be the site of a osteoarthritis. Synonym: stiff toe. (05 Mar 2000) |
| stiff-hearted | Obstinate; stubborn; contumacious. Origin: Stiff + heart. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| stiff-man syndrome | <syndrome> Rare central nervous system disorder of unknown aetiology characterised by progressive rigidity and painful spasms of the axial and limb musculature. Diagnosis is based on the appropriate clinical signs, continuous motor activity on electromyography, and significant favourable response to diazepam. It has been suggested that the syndrome may result from an imbalance between the gaba-ergic and catecholaminergic pathways that control motor unit activity; the imbalance may be caused by autoantibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase. (12 Dec 1998) |
| stiff-tailed | <zoology> Having the quill feathers of the tail somewhat rigid. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| stiffen | 1. Tiono 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. Origin: See Stiff. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| stiffish | Somewhat stiff. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |