stiff (redirected from stiffed)

be as stiff as a board

1. to be very stiff. It's so cold out there - the washing was as stiff as a board when I brought it in off the line.

2. if you are as stiff as a board, your body feels stiff and hurts when you try to move it, usually after a lot of physical exercise. I cycled fifty miles yesterday and when I woke this morning I was as stiff as a board.

See also: board

be as stiff/straight as a ramrod (old-fashioned)

if someone is as stiff as a ramrod, they stand or sit with their back very straight and stiff. At eighty-three, he's still as straight as a ramrod.

See also: straight

be bored to death/tears (informal, informal)

to be very bored. The speeches went on for an hour. I was bored to death.

See also: bore, death, tear

bore someone to death/tears

be bored to death/tears - to be very bored. That film bored me to tears.

See also: bore, death, tear

Hard/Tough cheddar! (British & Australian, informal, Australian, informal)

something that you say to or about someone to whom something bad has happened in order to show that you have no sympathy for them. It's about time Richard realized that he can't have everything his own way - tough cheddar, that's what I say!

See also: hard, tough

Hard/Tough cheese! (British & Australian, informal, Australian, informal)

something that you say to or about someone to whom something bad has happened in order to show that you have no sympathy for them. So he's fed up because he's got to get up early one morning in seven, is he? Well hard cheese!

See also: cheese, hard, tough

a stiff upper lip

an ability to stay calm and not show feelings of sadness or fear. You weren't allowed to show emotion in those days. You had to keep a stiff upper lip at all times. I never once saw my father cry or show any sign of vulnerability - it's that old British stiff upper lip.

See also: lip, upper

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scared stiff

extremely frightened. Jill awoke from a dream that left her afraid — scared stiff, in fact.

Etymology: from the idea that you are stiff (= unable to bend or change your position) because you are too frightened to move

See also: scare