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Dictionary


stiff



Pronunciation: (stif), [key]
—adj., -er, -est,
—n., adv., v.

—adj.
1. rigid or firm; difficult or impossible to bend or flex: a stiff collar.
2. not moving or working easily: The motor was a little stiff from the cold weather.
3. (of a person or animal) not supple; moving with difficulty, as from cold, age, exhaustion, or injury.
4. strong; forceful; powerful: stiff winds; The fighter threw a stiff right to his opponent's jaw.
5. strong or potent to the taste or system, as a beverage or medicine: He was cold and wanted a good stiff drink.
6. resolute; firm in purpose; unyielding; stubborn.
7. stubbornly continued: a stiff battle.
8. firm against any tendency to decrease, as stock-market prices.
9. rigidly formal; cold and unfriendly, as people, manners, or proceedings.
10. lacking ease and grace; awkward: a stiff style of writing.
11. excessively regular or formal, as a design; not graceful in form or arrangement.
12. laborious or difficult, as a task.
13. severe or harsh, as a penalty or demand.
14. excessive; unusually high or great: $50 is pretty stiff to pay for that.
15. firm from tension; taut: to keep a stiff rein.
16. relatively firm in consistency, as semisolid matter; thick: a stiff jelly; a stiff batter.
17. dense or compact; not friable: stiff soil.
18. Naut.(of a vessel) having a high resistance to rolling; stable (opposed to crank).
19. Scot. and North Eng.sturdy, stout, or strongly built.
20. Australian Slang.out of luck; unfortunate.

—n.
1. Slang.
a. a dead body; corpse.
b. a formal or priggish person.
c. a poor tipper; tightwad.
d. a drunk.
2. Slang.
a. a fellow: lucky stiff; poor stiff.
b. a tramp; hobo.
c. a laborer.
3. Slang.
a. a forged check.
b. a promissory note or bill of exchange.
c. a letter or note, esp. if secret or smuggled.
4. Slang.a contestant, esp. a racehorse, sure to lose.

—adv.
1. in or to a firm or rigid state: The wet shirt was frozen stiff.
2. completely, intensely, or extremely: I'm bored stiff by these lectures. We're scared stiff.

—v.t.
1. Slang.to fail or refuse to tip (a waiter, porter, etc.).
2. Slang.to cheat; gyp; do out of: The company stiffed me out of a week's pay.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

Stieglitzstiff-arm
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