stiff´ly

stiff´ly: stiff «stihf», adjective, adverb, noun, verb.

–adj.

1. not easily bent; fixed; rigid: »a stiff brush. He wore a stiff collar.

2. hard to move: »a stiff gear. The old hinges on the barn door are stiff.

3. not able to move easily: »a stiff neck. The old man's joints were stiff and sore.

4. drawn tight; tense; taut: »a stiff cord, to keep a stiff rein.

5. not fluid; firm: »a stiff cake batter. That jelly is stiff enough to stand alone.

6. dense; compact: »stiff soil.

7. Figurative. not easy or natural in manner; formal: »He made a stiff bow to his partner. He writes in a stiff style.
SYNONYM(S): stilted, affected, constrained, ceremonious.

8. lacking grace of line, form, or arrangement: »stiff geometrical designs.

9. Figurative. resolute; steadfast; unyielding: »a stiff resistance. He…was as stiff about urging his point as ever you could be (Charlotte Brontë).

10. strong and steady in motion: »a stiff breeze.

11. harsh or severe: »a stiff penalty.

12. Informal, Figurative. a) a more than seems suitable: »He asks a stiff price for his house.
SYNONYM(S): immoderate, excessive. b) firm, as prices, a commodity, or a market.

13. a) Informal. very strong; potent: »Bobby poured everybody a stiff drink of bourbon (James Dickey).
b) U.S. Slang. drunk: »Both laughed some more, which proves beyond doubt that both…were stiff (Atlantic).

14. Figurative. hard to deal with; hard; laborious: »a stiff fight, stiff opposition. The teacher gave us a stiff test.
SYNONYM(S): rigorous.

15. (of a ship) carrying a press of canvas in the wind without heeling or veering excessively.

16. Scottish. strongly built; stalwart; sturdy.

–adv.

1. in a stiff manner or condition; rigidly: »to be frozen stiff.

2. Informal. very much; extremely; completely: »to be bored stiff. I'm scared stiff of that dog.

3. hard by; close: »He…lays long iron shots stiff to the pin (Tuscaloosa News).

–n. Slang.

1. a dead body; corpse: »They piled the stiffs outside the door (John Hay).

2. Figurative. a stiff, formal, or priggish person: »These old stiffs of teachers just give you a lot of junk about literature and economics (Sinclair Lewis).

3. any worker; fellow; person: »... a directory that appears to contain the name and assignment of every working news stiff in the capital (New York Times).

4. a person who fails to tip for service.

5. a hopeless or incorrigible fellow.

6. U.S. a hobo; tramp: »stiffs riding the rods of Western freight cars (Time).

7. an unskilled dockworker.

8. a drunken person.

–v.t.

Slang. to leave without tipping or paying: »to stiff a waiter or bellhop. He stiffed the landlady for the month's rent he owed her.

╂[Old English stīf]

–stiff´ly, adverb.

–stiff´ness, noun.

Synonym Study adjective. 1 Stiff, rigid mean not easily bent. Stiff implies a hard firmness that resists bending: »a book with a stiff cover.
Rigid often implies so stiff that it will not bend without breaking: »rigid icicles. The gate has a rigid iron frame.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

Stiff — Stiff, a. [Compar. {Stiffer}; superl. {Stiffest}.] [OE. stif, AS. st[=i]f; akin to D. stijf, G. steif, Dan. stiv, Sw. styf, Icel. st[=i]fr, Lith. stipti to be stiff; cf. L. stipes a post, trunk of a tree, stipare to press, compress. Cf. {Costive} … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Stiff — may refer to:*Stiffness, a material s resistance to bending *Stiff differential equation, an equation that exhibits behaviour at two widely different scales (the differential equations describing stiff materials are stiff differential equations)… … Wikipedia
stiff — [stɪf] verb [transitive] informal to not pay someone money that you owe them or that they expect to be given, for example by not leaving a tip in a restaurant see also working stiff * * * Ⅰ. stiff UK US /stɪf/ adjective ► … Financial and business terms
stiff — [stif] adj. [ME stif < OE, akin to Ger steif < IE * stip , a pole, stick together (var. of base * steib(h) , rod) > L stipes, stem, stake, log, stipare, to crowd, cram] 1. hard to bend or stretch; rigid; firm; not flexible or pliant 2.… … English World dictionary
Stiff — bezeichnet: Stiff Records, ein britisches Independent Label Stiff Little Fingers, eine Punkband aus Belfast Stiff man Syndrom, eine neurologische Krankheit Stiff Upper Lip, ein Albumtitel von AC/DC Stiff ist der Familienname folgender Person:… … Deutsch Wikipedia
stiff — stiff; stiff·en; stiff·en·er; stiff·ish; stiff·ly; stiff·ness; … English syllables
stiff — [adj1] hard, inflexible annealed, arthritic, benumbed, brittle, buckram, cemented, chilled, congealed, contracted, creaky, firm, fixed, frozen, graceless, hardened, immalleable, impliable, incompliant, indurate, inelastic, jelled, mechanical,… … New thesaurus
stiff — ► ADJECTIVE 1) not easily bent; rigid. 2) not moving freely; difficult to turn or operate. 3) unable to move easily and without pain. 4) not relaxed or friendly; constrained. 5) severe or strong: stiff fines. 6) (stiff with) informal full of … English terms dictionary
stiff´en|er — stiff|en «STIHF uhn», transitive verb. to make stiff or stiffer: »She stiffened the shirt with starch. –v.i. to become stiff or stiffer: »The jelly will stiffen as it cools. The wind was stiffening as the storm approached. Figurative. He… … Useful english dictionary
stiff|en — «STIHF uhn», transitive verb. to make stiff or stiffer: »She stiffened the shirt with starch. –v.i. to become stiff or stiffer: »The jelly will stiffen as it cools. The wind was stiffening as the storm approached. Figurative. He stiffened with… … Useful english dictionary

Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

stiff´ly

Look at other dictionaries:

Share the article and excerpts

Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Useful english dictionary

stiff´ly

Look at other dictionaries:

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link