| 释义 |
▪ I. stiffening, vbl. n.|ˈstɪf(ə)nɪŋ|
[f. stiffen v. + -ing1.]
1. The action of the verb; the process of making or becoming stiff; concr. a stiffened substance.
1614J. Taylor (Water P.) Nipping Abuses B 3 b, I cannot Item it [a tailor's bill]..For cutting, edging, stiffning and for lacing. 1653Jer. Taylor Serm. I. iv. 44 Like the joynts of a bulrush, not bendings, but consolidations and stiffenings. 1799Repert. Arts & Manuf. X. 284 The fourth and last operation of hat-making; namely, stiffening. 1883Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Oct. 12/1 The stiffening of the Egyptian army with a body of English volunteers. 1909D. Fulton tr. P. Cohnheim's Dis. Digest. Canal 8 It is especially important to recognize abnormally increased peristalsis, the so-called ‘stiffenings’ of the stomach, small intestine or colon.
2. a. Something that serves to stiffen.
1620J. Taylor (Water P.) Praise Hemp-seed (1623) 28 Being edgd with Items, stiffnings, facings, With Bumbast, Cottens, linings, and with lacings. 1758Borlase Nat. Hist. Cornw. 79 The solids were preadapted by the divine power to form the foundation, or the stiffnings (if I may so say) of the globe. 1857Miller Elem. Chem., Org. 505 Lac is extensively used as a stiffening for hats.
b. An admixture of soldiers of better quality.
1900Daily Mail 3 May 6/6 The column..consisted chiefly of Yeomanry, with a stiffening of Cape Police. 1915J. Buchan Hist. War VII. lix. 151 Only the German stiffening kept them [the Austrians] to their work.
c. Naut. Heavy goods taken on board ship as ballast (see quot. 1894). Cf. stiffening order, sense 3.
1894H. Paasch From Keel to Truck (ed. 2) 463/1 Stiffening, is the term given to any weighty substances taken on board a vessel for the purpose of making her ‘Stiff’, i.e. less crank. Stiffening (whether consisting of ballast or a portion of the outward cargo) is put in vessels which do not remain upright without having sufficient weight in the bottom. 1902B. Lubbock Round the Horn 29 We are waiting now for our ‘stiffening’, as we dare not take our last 400 tons of coals out until we get a like weight of grain. 1924R. Clements Gipsy of Horn vi. 115 We heard one morning that we were chartered, and proceeded to shift ship down to the coal-tips to take in our ‘stiffening’—just sufficient coal, that is, to ballast the ship. 1975Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 23 Feb. 6/3 The Pamir was taken in tow with a small amount of coal ballast aboard for stiffening.
3. attrib., as stiffening-brush, stiffening-girder, stiffening-rib; stiffening-order (see quot.).
1688Holme Armoury iii. 386/1 A Felt makers *Stiffning Brush.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Stiffening-girder, a truss girder which distributes the weight of the platform and load upon the suspension-chain and prevents undulation.
1858Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Stiffening-order, a permission granted by the Customs' to take on board heavy goods, by way of ballast, to steady the ship.
1869Rankine Machine & Hand-tools App. 26 The distance between the *stiffening ribs measured on a slope of 45°.
▪ II. stiffening, ppl. a.|ˈstɪf(ə)nɪŋ|
[f. stiffen v. + -ing2.]
That stiffens: a. That becomes stiff or stiffer; b. That makes stiff or stiffer.
1704Rowe Ulysses iv. i. 1722 It freezes every stiff'ning limb to Marble. 1843Lytton Last of Barons i. iv, The place where he had lain was damp and red with stiffening blood. 1863Gladstone in Morley Life v. vi. (1903) II. 97 Walked 243/4 miles. Found it rather too much for my stiffening limbs. 1898Educ. Rev. XV. 456 The efforts..have usually resulted in a stiffening formalization. |