a. [ OE. caitif, cheitif, captive, miserable, OF. caitif, chaitif, captive, mean, wretched, F. chétif, fr. L. captivus captive, fr. capere to take, akin to E. heave. See Heave, and cf. Captive. ] 1. Captive; wretched; unfortunate. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Base; wicked and mean; cowardly; despicable. [ 1913 Webster ]

Arnold had sped his caitiff flight. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A captive; a prisoner. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Avarice doth tyrannize over her caitiff and slave. Holland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A wretched or unfortunate man. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A mean, despicable person; one whose character meanness and wickedness meet. [ 1913 Webster ]

The deep-felt conviction of men that slavery breaks down the moral character . . . speaks out with . . . distinctness in the change of meaning which caitiff has undergone signifying as it now does, one of a base, abject disposition, while there was a time when it had nothing of this in it. Trench. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Mastiffs [ Mastives is irregular and unusual. ] [ Prob. fr. Prov. E. masty, adj., large, n., a great dog, prob. fr. mast fruit, and hence, lit., fattened with mast. There is perh. confusion with OF. mestif mongrel; cf. also F. mâtin mastiff, OF. mastin. ] (Zool.) A breed of large dogs noted for strength and courage. There are various strains, differing in form and color, and characteristic of different countries. [ 1913 Webster ]

Mastiff bat (Zool.) , any bat of the genus Molossus; so called because the face somewhat resembles that of a mastiff. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. plaintif making complaint, plaintive; in Old French equiv. to plaignant complainant, prosecutor, fr. plaindre. See Plaint, and cf. Plaintive. ] (Law) One who commences a personal action or suit to obtain a remedy for an injury to his rights; -- opposed to defendant. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. See Plaintive. [ Obs. ] Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. pontife, L. pontifex, -ficis; pons, pontis, a bridge (perhaps originally, a way, path) + facere to make. Cf. Pontoon. ] A high priest. Especially: (a) One of the sacred college, in ancient Rome, which had the supreme jurisdiction over all matters of religion, at the head of which was the Pontifex Maximus. Dr. W. Smith. (b) (Jewish Antiq.) The chief priest. (c) (R. C. Ch.) The pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Restive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A restive or stubborn horse. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Restiveness. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Stiffer superl. Stiffest. ] [ OE. stif, AS. stīf; akin to D. stijf, G. steif, Dan. stiv, Sw. styf, Icel. stīfr, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ They ] rising on stiff pennons, tower
The mid aerial sky. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious; inspissated; neither soft nor hard; as, the paste is stiff. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Firm; strong; violent; difficult to oppose; as, a stiff gale or breeze. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Not easily subdued; unyielding; stubborn; obstinate; pertinacious; as, a stiff adversary. [ 1913 Webster ]

It is a shame to stand stiff in a foolish argument. Jer. Taylor. [ 1913 Webster ]

A war ensues: the Cretans own their cause,
Stiff to defend their hospitable laws. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style. [ 1913 Webster ]

The French are open, familiar, and talkative; the Italians stiff, ceremonious, and reserved. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear. [ Obs. or Colloq. ] “This is stiff news.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Naut.) Bearing a press of canvas without careening much; as, a stiff vessel; -- opposed to crank. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Very large, strong, or costly; powerful; as, a stiff charge; a stiff price. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Stiff neck, a condition of the neck such that the head can not be moved without difficulty and pain. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Rigid; inflexible; strong; hardly; stubborn; obstinate; pertinacious; harsh; formal; constrained; affected; starched; rigorous. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Obstinate. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To inspissate; to make more thick or viscous; as, to stiffen paste. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make torpid; to benumb. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To become stiff or stiffer, in any sense of the adjective. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like bristles rose my stiffening hair. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

The tender soil then stiffening by degrees. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some souls we see,
Grow hard and stiffen with adversity. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, stiffens anything, as a piece of stiff cloth in a cravat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Act or process of making stiff. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Something used to make anything stiff. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stiffening order (Com.), a permission granted by the customs department to take cargo or ballast on board before the old cargo is out, in order to steady the ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Stiff + heart. ] Obstinate; stubborn; contumacious. Ezek. ii. 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Somewhat stiff. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a stiff manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Stubborn; inflexibly obstinate; contumacious; as, stiff-necked pride; a stiff-necked people. Ex. xxxii. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being stiff-necked; stubbornness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being stiff; as, the stiffness of cloth or of paste; stiffness of manner; stiffness of character. [ 1913 Webster ]

The vices of old age have the stiffness of it too. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The ruddy duck. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Having the quill feathers of the tail somewhat rigid. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Tiffed p. pr. & vb. n. Tiffing. ] To be in a pet. [ 1913 Webster ]

She tiffed with Tim, she ran from Ralph. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Originally, a sniff, sniffing; cf. Icel. &unr_;efr a smell, &unr_;efa to sniff, Norw. tev a drawing in of the breath, teva to sniff, smell, dial. Sw. tüv smell, scent, taste. ] 1. Liquor; especially, a small draught of liquor. “Sipping his tiff of brandy punch.” Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A fit of anger or peevishness; a slight altercation or contention. See Tift. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ OE. tiffen, OF. tiffer, tifer, to bedizen; cf. D. tippen to clip the points or ends of the hair, E. tip, n. ] To deck out; to dress. [ Obs. ] A. Tucker. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. tiffenay; cf. OF. tiffe ornament, tiffer to adjust, adorn. See Tiff to dress. ] A species of gause, or very silk. [ 1913 Webster ]

The smoke of sulphur . . . is commonly used by women to whiten tiffanies. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ After Louis Comfort Tiffany. ] 1. made of stained glass by, or in the style of objects made by, Louis C. Tiffany; as, a Tiffany lamp. [ PJC ]

2. Made by or purchased from the Tiffany corporation (with headquarters in New York City); as, Tiffany jewelry. [ PJC ]

n. [ Properly, tiffing a quaffing, a drinking. See Tiff, n. ] A lunch, or slight repast between breakfast and dinner; -- originally, a Provincial English word, but introduced into India, and brought back to England in a special sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Inclined to tiffs; peevish; petulant. [ 1913 Webster ]