Part 797

Dryden.

The tender soil then stiffening by degrees.

Dryden.

Some souls we see, Grow hard and stiffen with adversity.

Dryden.

Stiff"en*er (?), n. One who, or that which, stiffens anything, as a piece of stiff cloth in a cravat.

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.

Stiff"-heart`ed (?), a. [Stiff + heart.] Obstinate; stubborn; contumacious. Ezek. ii. 4.

Stiff"ish, a. Somewhat stiff.

Stiff"ly (?), adv. In a stiff manner.

Stiff"-necked` (?), a. Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, stiff-necked pride; a stiff-necked people. Ex. xxxii. 9.

Stiff"-neck`ed*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being stiff-necked; stubbornness.

Stiff"ness, n. The quality or state of being stiff; as, the stiffness of cloth or of paste; stiffness of manner; stiffness of character.

The vices of old age have the stiffness of it too.

South.

Stiff"tail` (?), n. The ruddy duck. [Local, U.S.]

Stiff"-tailed` (?), a. (Zoöl.) Having the quill feathers of the tail somewhat rigid.

Sti"fle (?), n. [From Stiff.] (Far.) The joint next above the hock, and near the flank, in the hind leg of the horse and allied animals; the joint corresponding to the knee in man; -- called also stifle joint. See Illust. under Horse.

Stifle bone, a small bone at the stifle joint; the patella, or kneepan.

Sti"fle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stifled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Stifling (?).] [Freq. of OE. stif stiff; cf. Icel. stfla to dam up.] 1. To stop the breath of by crowding something into the windpipe, or introducing an irrespirable substance into the lungs; to choke; to suffocate; to cause the death of by such means; as, to stifle one with smoke or dust.

Stifled with kisses, a sweet death he dies.

Dryden.

I took my leave, being half stifled with the closeness of the room.

Swift.

2. To stop; to extinguish; to deaden; to quench; as, to stifle the breath; to stifle a fire or flame.

Bodies . . . stifle in themselves the rays which they do not reflect or transmit.