word-vault/dist/data/cards/st/stiff.json

A lightweight JavaScript package for English word definitions and collections.

{
    "term": "stiff",
    "partOfSpeech": "adjective",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "difficult to bend or move",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a sheet of stiff black cardboard"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Scrub away any residue with a stiff brush."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The windows were stiff and she couldn't get them open."
                },
                {
                    "text": "My trousers were getting stiff with mud."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She lay stiff and still beside him."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The captain stood as stiff as a board."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The clothes were stiff with dust and grease."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It was an old blanket, frayed and stiff with dirt."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The brown hair was coarse and stiff."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "feel", "lie"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"],
                "preposition": ["with"],
                "phrases": ["(as) stiff as a board"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "when a person or a part of their body is stiff, their muscles hurt when they move them",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I'm really stiff after that bike ride yesterday."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I've got a **stiff neck**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I've got a stiff neck from sleeping in a draught."
                },
                {
                    "text": "You'll get stiff if you don't have a hot bath."
                },
                {
                    "text": "My fingers had gone stiff with cold."
                },
                {
                    "text": "My arm's gone all stiff."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I was stiff from kneeling."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He felt stiff all over."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "feel", "get"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"],
                "preposition": ["from"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "thick; difficult to stir (= move around with a spoon)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Whisk the egg whites until stiff."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "more difficult or severe than usual",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "It was a **stiff climb** to the top of the hill."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The company faces **stiff competition** from its rivals."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The new proposals have met with **stiff opposition**."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She offered **stiff resistance** to a thief attempting to snatch her bag."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Firms face **stiff penalties** for breaking the rules."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a **stiff breeze/wind** *(= one that blows strongly)*"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The course represents a stiff test of a golfer's skills."
                },
                {
                    "text": "in the face of some very stiff competition"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Their punishment seemed rather stiff."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There are stiff fines for illegal dumping."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "seem"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "not friendly or relaxed",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The speech he made to welcome them was stiff and formal."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His manner seemed rather stiff and impersonal."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was aware that her words sounded stiff."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He had the accent and the stiff manner of a school house master."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "look", "seem"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "costing a lot or too much",
            "labels": "(informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "There's a stiff $30 entrance fee to the exhibition."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 7,
            "definition": "strong; containing a lot of alcohol",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a stiff whisky"
                },
                {
                    "text": "‘What you need is a stiff drink,’ he told her."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verbs": ["be", "seem"],
                "adverb": ["extremely", "fairly", "very"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to keep calm and hide your feelings when you are in pain or in a difficult situation",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He was taught to keep a stiff upper lip and never to cry in public."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Their reaction contrasts sharply with the stiff upper lip of the English."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/stɪf/",
                "audio": "st/stiff/stiff__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/stɪf/",
                "audio": "st/stiff/stiff__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English stīf, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch stijf."
}