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Entry 4 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Stiffen

/stĭf'-ən/ · Stiff·en · IPA /ˈstɪfən/
01 v. t. To make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.
imp. & p. p. Stiffened; p. pr. & vb. n. Stiffening
  1. 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. 2.
    To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.
  3. 3.
    To make torpid; to benumb.
02 v. i. To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.
  1. 1.
    To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective.
    “Like bristles rose my stiffening hair.” — Dryden.
    “The tender soil then stiffening by degrees.” — Dryden.
    “Some souls we see, Grow hard and stiffen with adversity.” — Dryden.