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Stiff vs Form - What's the difference?

stiff | form |

As nouns the difference between stiff and form

is that stiff is an average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff or lucky stiff while form is to do with shape.

As verbs the difference between stiff and form

is that stiff is to fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily while form is to give shape or visible structure to (a thing or person).

As an adjective stiff

is of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.

stiff

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Of an object, rigid, hard to bend, inflexible.
  • *
  • *:“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.
  • (lb) Of policies and rules and their application and enforcement, inflexible.
  • Of a person, formal in behavior, unrelaxed.
  • (lb) Harsh, severe.
  • :
  • Of muscles, or parts of the body, painful, as a result of excessive, or unaccustomed exercise.
  • :
  • Potent.
  • :
  • Dead, deceased.
  • Of a penis, erect.
  • Derived terms

    * stiffy

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education, often a working stiff''''' or ''lucky '''stiff .
  • A Working Stiff' s Manifesto: A Memoir of Thirty Jobs I Quit, Nine That Fired Me, and Three I Can't Remember was published in 2003.
  • A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
  • She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.
  • (slang) A cadaver, a dead person.
  • (US) A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
  • Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.
  • See also

    * bindlestiff * See also ,

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To fail to pay that which one owes (implicitly or explicitly) to another, especially by departing hastily.
  • 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…].
  • * 1992 , Stephen Birmingham, Shades of Fortune , page 451
  • You see, poor Nonie really was stiffed' by Adolph in his will. He really ' stiffed her , Rose, and I really wanted to right that wrong.
  • * 2007 , Mary Higgins Clark, I Heard That Song Before , page 154
  • Then he stiffed the waiter with a cheap tip.

    Anagrams

    *

    form

    English

    Alternative forms

    * forme (rare or archaic)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • To do with shape.
  • # The shape or visible structure of a thing or person.
  • #* 1699 , , Heads designed for an essay on conversations
  • Study gives strength to the mind; conversation, grace: the first apt to give stiffness, the other suppleness: one gives substance and form to the statue, the other polishes it.
  • #*{{quote-book, year=1892, author=(James Yoxall)
  • , chapter=5, title= The Lonely Pyramid , passage=The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom.
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-10, author=Audrey Garric, volume=188, issue=22, page=30
  • , magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Urban canopies let nature bloom , passage=As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field.}}
  • # A thing that gives shape to other things as in a mold.
  • # Characteristics not involving atomic components. (rfex)
  • # (label) A long bench with no back.
  • #* 1981 , (w), (The Book of Ebenezer Le Page) , New York 2007, p. 10:
  • I can see the old schoolroom yet: the broken-down desks and the worn-out forms with knots in that got stuck into your backside.
  • #* 2010 , (Stephen Fry), :
  • The prefect grabbed me by the shoulders and steered me down a passageway, and down another and finally through a door that led into a long, low dining-room crowded with loudly breakfasting boys sitting on long, shiny oak forms , as benches used to be called.
  • # (label) The boundary line of a material object. In painting, more generally, the human body.
  • # (label) The combination of planes included under a general crystallographic symbol. It is not necessarily a closed solid.
  • (label) To do with structure or procedure.
  • # An order of doing things, as in religious ritual.
  • # Established method of expression or practice; fixed way of proceeding; conventional or stated scheme; formula.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • Those whom form of laws / Condemned to die.
  • # Constitution; mode of construction, organization, etc.; system.
  • # Show without substance; empty, outside appearance; vain, trivial, or conventional ceremony; conventionality; formality.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Though well we may not pass upon his life / Without the form of justice.
  • # (label) A class or rank in society.
  • #* (w) (1643-1715)
  • ladies of a high form
  • # (label) A criminal record; loosely, past history (in a given area).
  • #* 2011 , Jane Martinson, The Guardian , 4 May:
  • It's fair to say she has form on this: she has criticised David Cameron's proposal to create all-women shortlists for prospective MPs, tried to ban women wearing high heels at work as the resulting pain made them take time off work, and tried to reduce the point at which an abortion can take place from 24 to 21 weeks.
  • # (label) Level.
  • ## A class or year of students (often preceded by an ordinal number to specify the year, as in (sixth form)).
  • ##* 1928 , George Bickerstaff, The mayor, and other folk
  • #
    One other day after afternoon school, Mr. Percival came behind me and put his hand on me. "Let me see, what's your name? Which form are you in?"
  • ##* 1976 , Ronald King, School and college: studies of post-sixteen education
  • #
    From the sixth form will come the scholars and the administrators.
  • ## (label) Grade (level of pre-collegiate education).
  • A blank document or template to be filled in by the user.
  • (label) A grouping of words which maintain grammatical context in different usages; the particular shape or structure of a word or part of speech.
  • The den or home of a hare.
  • *, II.29:
  • Being one day a hunting, I found a Hare sitting in her forme .
  • *, I.iii.1.2:
  • The Egyptians therefore in their hieroglyphics expressed a melancholy man by a hare sitting in her form , as being a most timorous and solitary creature.
  • * 1974 , (Lawrence Durrell), , Faber & Faber 1992, p.275:
  • Hares left their snug ‘forms ’ in the cold grass.
  • A window or dialogue box.
  • * 1998 , Gary Cornell, Visual Basic 6 from the ground up (p.426)
  • While it is quite amazing how much one can do with Visual Basic with the code attached to a single form .
  • * Neil Smyth, C# Essentials
  • Throughout this chapter we will work with a form in a new project.
  • (label) An infraspecific rank.
  • The type or other matter from which an impression is to be taken, arranged and secured in a chase.
  • (label) A quantic.
  • Synonyms

    * (shape) ** figure, used when discussing people, not animals ** shape, used on animals and on persons * (blank document) formular * (pre-collegiate level) grade * (biology)

    Derived terms

    * form class * form factor * form feed * form genera * form genus * form letter * form taxon * in form * longform * mid-season form * return to form * shortform * subform * typeform

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (lb) To give shape or visible structure to (a thing or person).
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= William E. Conner
  • , title= An Acoustic Arms Race , volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}
  • (lb) To take shape.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Stephen P. Lownie], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/david-m-pelz David M. Pelz
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Stents to Prevent Stroke , passage=As we age, the major arteries of our bodies frequently become thickened with plaque, a fatty material with an oatmeal-like consistency that builds up along the inner lining of blood vessels. The reason plaque forms isn’t entirely known, but it seems to be related to high levels of cholesterol inducing an inflammatory response, which can also attract and trap more cellular debris over time.}}
  • To create (a word) by inflection or derivation.
  • :
  • (lb) To constitute, to compose, to make up.
  • :
  • *(Edmund Burke) (1729-1797)
  • *:the diplomatic politicianswho formed by far the majority
  • *
  • *:But then I had the [massive] flintlock by me for protection. ¶.
  • *1948 May, Stanley Pashko, “The Biggest Family”, in (w, Boys' Life) , Volume 38, Number 5, Boy Scouts of America, ISSN 0006-8608, p.10:
  • *:Insects form the biggest family group in nature's kingdom, and also the oldest.
  • To mould or model by instruction or discipline.
  • :
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:'Tis education forms the common mind.
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:Thus formed for speed, he challenges the wind.
  • To provide (a hare) with a form.
  • *(Michael Drayton) (1563-1631)
  • *:The melancholy hare is formed in brakes and briers.
  • Statistics

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