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• v  become stiff or stiffer
  He stiffened when he saw his boss enter the room
• v  make stiff or stiffer
• v  restrict
  stiffen the regulations

• Food processors use liquid hydrogen to stiffen oils into shortening through "hydrogenation.
• Calcium can then build up in the vessels and stiffen them, laying the foundation for heart disease.
• Flying to Sarawak and North Borneo, "Harry" Lee picked up the chief ministers of both territories and brought them back to Kuala Lumpur to stiffen up the Tunku.

• tighten
• tighten up
• constrain

• loosen

News & Articles

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• St. Louis Alderman Wants To Outlaw Saggy Pants
  ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI)– A proposal that’s supposed to stiffen ethics a requirement in politics has gotten gummed up in...
  June 21, 2013 - FOX 2 News St. Louis
• Immigration trade-off? Adding agents, fencing may limit citizenship
  An emerging compromise in the Senate to stiffen border security as a concession to legalize millions living in the country unlawfully may actually prevent immigrants from earning citizenship, U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke said Thursday.
  June 21, 2013 - El Paso Times
• 'People's filibuster' on stringent abortion laws runs into early morning hours
  Hundreds of activists on both sides of the abortion debate packed a House committee room Thursday evening, and into the early morning hours of Friday, to voice their opinions on Senate-passed legislation that would stiffen abortion regulations. Under the laws passed in the Senate chambers Tuesday is what's been dubbed the "fetal pain bill," which aims to regulate when exactly a woman can get an ...
  June 21, 2013 - YNN Austin

Quotes

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• Barack Obama in New York Times (blog)
  While prayer can buck us up when we are down, keep us calm in a storm, while prayer can stiffen our spines to surmount an obstacle - and I assure you, I'm praying a lot these days - prayer can also do something else,Mr. Obama said. "It can...
• Tim Cahill in SkySports
  I've just put a bit more protection on them to help me change my running style and transfer the weight away from my fifth metatarsal,said Cahill. "They seem to be doing well, but only time will tell. They have had to stiffen the sole and...
• Tom Lantos in Independent
  The international community must use all our available means to stiffen Lebanon's spine and to convince the government of Lebanon to have the new Unifil troops on the Syrian border in adequate numbers,said Tom Lantos, of the US House of...