stiff
IPA: stˈɪf
noun
- (slang, chiefly Canada, US) An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education.
- (slang) A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
- (slang) A cadaver; a dead person.
- (slang) A flop; a commercial failure.
- (US, slang) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
- (US, slang, by extension) A customer who does not leave a tip.
- (blackjack) Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.
- (finance, slang) Negotiable instruments, possibly forged.
- (prison slang) A note or letter surreptitiously sent by an inmate.
- A surname.
verb
- To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
- To cheat someone
- To tip ungenerously.
- (slang) To kill.
- (informal) To be unsuccessful.
adjective
- (of an object) Rigid; hard to bend; inflexible.
- (figurative, of policies and rules and their application and enforcement) Inflexible; rigid.
- (of a person) Formal in behavior; unrelaxed.
- (colloquial) Harsh, severe.
- (of muscles or parts of the body) Painful as a result of excessive or unaccustomed exercise.
- Potent.
- (informal) Dead, deceased.
- (of the penis) Erect.
- Having a dense consistency; thick; (by extension) Difficult to stir.
- (cooking, of whipping cream or egg whites) Beaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.
- (mathematics) Of an equation: for which certain numerical solving methods are numerically unstable, unless the step size is taken to be extremely small.
- (nautical) Keeping upright.
- (golf) Of a shot: landing so close to the flagstick that it should be very easy to sink the ball with the next shot.
- (professional wrestling, of a strike) Delivered more forcefully than needed, whether intentionally or accidentally, thus causing legitimate pain to the opponent.
adverb
- (nautical) Of the wind, with great force; strongly.
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Examples of "stiff" in Sentences
- The filly's hair is very stiff.
- The opposite of stiffness is flexibility.
- The stride will become stiff and inelastic.
- The texture of the leaves is leathery and stiff.
- An alki-stiff is a tramp who drinks druggist's alcohol.
- This significantly increased the stiffness of the frame.
- The diameter affects the stiffness or softness of the brush.
- But there was stiff opposition from the relatives of the girl.
- The figures are characterised by their angularity and stiffness.
- Someone I know said we should always set our goals in stiff jelly.
- By the application of compensation the bearing stiffness may be increased.
- By the application of compensation, the bearing stiffness may be increased.
- And yet he knew, furthermore, that hers was a certain stiff-kneed pride that would not have permitted her to accept marriage as an act of philanthropy.
- Ken, I want to begin with you because you have said time and time again right here on this show that Lindsay needs what you call stiff punishment to really teach her a lesson.
- Since the press law reform of 2002, Moroccan media have seen an increase in stiff criminal penalties and civil damages against journalists and the publications they write for.
- Judge Spear imposed what he called a stiff sentence, in part to reflect the damage that Mr Ross's conduct has caused to public confidence in similar events, but also to act as a deterrent to others.
- The walls were full of photos in cheap plastic frames: A young boy held a net of frogs, his expression stiff and sorrowful; the same boy stood at the edge of a cliff at sunset with his arms spread open toward the camera.
- He glanced about him at the well-bred, well-dressed men and women, and breathed into his lungs the atmosphere of culture and refinement, and at the same moment the ghost of his early youth, in stiff-rim and square-cut, with swagger and toughness, stalked across the room.
- A flexible bit is one in which the axles have their points of junction broad and smooth,141 so as to bend easily; and where the several parts fitting round the axles, being large of aperture and not too closely packed, have greater flexibility; whereas, if the several parts do not slide to and fro with ease, and play into each other, that is what we call a stiff bit.
- A flexible bit is one in which the axles have their points of junction broad and smooth, (8) so as to bend easily; and where the several parts fitting round the axles, being large of aperture and not too closely packed, have greater flexibility; whereas, if the several parts do not slide to and fro with ease, and play into each other, that is what we call a stiff bit.