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The expected Modern English form would be /staɪf/; /stɪf/ is probably originally from compounds such as stiffly, where the vowel was shortened before a consonant cluster.[1]
“A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron;[…]. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, and from time to time squinting sideways, as usual, in the ever-renewed expectation that he might catch a glimpse of his stiff, retroussé moustache.
1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 134:
was popular in India because of the climate, where it was played outdoors, but in England the stiff breezes made it impossible to play without heavily loaded shuttlecocks.
2023 July 4, Marina Hyde, “Who’s for political Bazball with Rishi? Voters? Tories? Anyone?”, in The Guardian:
In the end, perhaps these deflections are easier than confronting the reality and debunking some of the less helpful stories a certain section of England likes to tell about itself. Much easier to just order another stiff one, and raise the old toast: “My country, right or wrong!”
Adieu! faint-hearted instrument of lust; / That falselie hath betrayde our equale trust. / Hence-forth no more will I implore thine ayde, / Or thee, or man of cowardize upbrayde. / My little dilldo shall suply their kinde: / A knaue, that moues as light as leaues by winde; / That bendeth not, nor fouldeth anie deale, / But stands as stiff as he were made of steele; / And playes at peacock twixt my leggs right blythe, / And doeth my tickling swage with manie a sighe. / For, by saint Runnion! he'le refresh me well; / And neuer make my tender bellie swell.
Adding too much peanut butter to your Peanut Sauce recipe may cause your sauce to turn out too stiff.
(cooking, of whipping cream or egg whites) Beaten until so aerated that they stand up straight on their own.
beat the egg whites until they are stiff
(mathematics) Of an equation, for which certain numerical solving methods are numerically unstable, unless the step size is taken to be extremely small.
(golf) Of a shot, landing so close to the flagstick that it should be very easy to sink the ball with the next shot.
1968, William Price Fox, Southern Fried Plus Six: Short Works of Fiction, page 219:
I go all out, go for the long ball, the stiff shots to the pin, aim for the back of the cup.
(professional wrestling, of a strike) Delivered more forcefully than needed, whether intentionally or accidentally, thus causing legitimate pain to the opponent.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
The clerk shrugged: “That's the boss's little girl.” “Why, the lucky stiff!” said Keating. “He's been holding out on me.” “You misunderstood me,” the clerk said coldly. “It's his daughter. It's Dominique Francon.”
This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!
1994, Andy Dougan, The actors' director: Richard Attenborough behind the camera, page 63:
If the movie was a stiff it wasn't any of their specific faults. They were all in it together and they were jobbed in and jobbed out for two weeks and gone and they got a pile of money for their efforts.
2016, Ralph J. Gleason, Toby Gleason, Music in the Air: The Selected Writings of Ralph J. Gleason:
They never did sell any records. I don't mean they didn't sell 100,000. I mean they didn't sell 5000. Total. National. Coast-to-coast. The record was a stiff.
(US,slang) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
(prison slang: a note or letter):Eric Partridge (1949) “stiff”, in A Dictionary of the Underworld, London: Macmillan Co., page 688; 2015, Noel 'Razor' Smith, The Criminal Alphabet: An A-Z of Prison Slang
(financial instruments):1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary
Verb
stiff (third-person singular simple presentstiffs, present participlestiffing, simple past and past participlestiffed)
Realizing he had forgotten his wallet, he stiffed the taxi driver when the cab stopped for a red light.
1946, William Foote Whyte, Industry and Society, page 129:
We asked one girl to explain how she felt when she was "stiffed." She said, You think of all the work you've done and how you've tried to please [them…].
1731, John Lowthorp, Philosophical Transactions and Collections to the End of the Year MDCC, 4th edition, volume II, page 282:
At Feversham was a very High Tide in the Afternoon, tho' the Wind was Southerly, and blew very stiff, which the Seamen there wondered at.
1849 October 23, Herman Melville, edited by Howard C. Horsforth and Lynn Horth, The Writings of Herman Melville: Journals, volume 15, published 1989, page 9:
It soon blew stiff, & we scudded before it under double-reefed topsails, & mainsail hauled up.
1871 September 16, W.A. Crowther, Diary:
At about 11.30 am it rained tremendously and blew very stiff.
1867, “DR. RUSSELL ON THE INHABITANTS AND DIALECT OF THE BARONY OF FORTH”, in APPENDIX:
Stiff Staffort,
Stiff Stafford.
References
Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 126