Stick"-tight` (?), n. (Bot.) Beggar's ticks.
Stick"y (?), a. [Compar. Stickier (?); superl. Stickiest.] Having the
quality of sticking to a surface; adhesive; gluey; viscous; viscid;
glutinous; tenacious.
Herbs which last longest are those of strong smell, and with a
sticky stalk.
Bacon.
Stid"dy (?), n. [See Stithy.] An anvil; also, a smith shop. See Stithy.
[Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
Stiff (?), a. [Compar. Stiffer (?); superl. Stiffest.] [OE. stif, AS.
stf; akin to D. stijf, G. steif, Dan. stiv, Sw. styf, Icel. stfr, Lith.
stipti to be stiff; cf. L. stipes a post, trunk of a tree, stipare to
press, compress. Cf. Costive, Stifle, Stipulate, Stive to stuff.] 1.
Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not limber or flaccid; rigid;
firm; as, stiff wood, paper, joints.
[They] rising on stiff pennons, tower The mid aërial sky.
Milton.
2. Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious; inspissated; neither soft
nor hard; as, the paste is stiff.
3. Firm; strong; violent; difficult to oppose; as, a stiff gale or
breeze.
4. Not easily subdued; unyielding; stubborn; obstinate; pertinacious;
as, a stiff adversary.
It is a shame to stand stiff in a foolish argument.
Jer. Taylor.
A war ensues: the Cretans own their cause, Stiff to defend their
hospitable laws.
Dryden.
5. Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as,
stiff behavior; a stiff style.
The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff,
ceremonious, and reserved.
Addison.
6. Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear. [Obs. or Colloq.] "This
is stiff news." Shak.
7. (Naut.) Bearing a press of canvas without careening much; as, a
stiff vessel; -- opposed to crank. Totten.
8. Very large, strong, or costly; powerful; as, a stiff charge; a stiff
price. [Slang]
Stiff neck, a condition of the neck such that the head can not be moved
without difficulty and pain.
Syn. -- Rigid; inflexible; strong; hardly; stubborn; obstinate;
pertinacious; harsh; formal; constrained; affected; starched; rigorous.
Stiff"-backed` (?), a. Obstinate. J. H. Newman.
Stiff"en (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stiffened (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Stiffening.] [See Stiff.] 1. To make stiff; to make less pliant or
flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch.
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood.
Shak.