Stiffening ppl. a.

[f. STIFFEN v. + -ING².] That stiffens: a. That becomes stiff or stiffer; b. That makes stiff or stiffer.

1704.  Rowe, Ulysses, IV. i. 1722. It freezes every stiff’ning limb to Marble.

1843.  Lytton, Last of Barons, I. iv. The place where he had lain was damp and red with stiffening blood.

1863.  Gladstone, in Morley, Life, V. vi. (1903), II. 97. Walked 24³/₄ miles. Found it rather too much for my stiffening limbs.

1898.  Educ. Rev., XV. 456. The efforts … have usually resulted in a stiffening formalization.