Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
STIFFENED
Verb
stiffened
simple past tense and past participle of stiffen
Source: Wiktionary
STIFFEN
Stiff"en, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stiffened; p. pr. & vb. n. Stiffening.] Etym: [See Stiff.]
1. tiono make stiff; to make less pliant or flexible; as, to stiffen cloth with starch. Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. Shak.
2. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste.
3. To make torpid; to benumb.
Stiff"en, v. i.
Definition: To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective. Like bristles rose my stiffening hair. Dryden. The tender soil then stiffening by degrees. Dryden. Some souls we see, Grow hard and stiffen with adversity. Dryden.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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5 November 2024
TEMPORIZE
(verb) draw out a discussion or process in order to gain time; “The speaker temporized in order to delay the vote”
Coffee Trivia
