What's the difference between rigid and stiff?

Rigid


Definition:

  • (a.) Firm; stiff; unyielding; not pliant; not flexible.
  • (a.) Hence, not lax or indulgent; severe; inflexible; strict; as, a rigid father or master; rigid discipline; rigid criticism; a rigid sentence.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) By the 1860s, French designs were using larger front wheels and steel frames, which although lighter were more rigid, leading to its nickname of “boneshaker”.
  • (2) Diphenoxylate-induced hypoxia was the major problem and was associated with slow or fast respirations, hypotonia or rigidity, cardiac arrest, and in 3 cases cerebral edema and death.
  • (3) Pitlike surface structures seen in negatively stained whole cells and thin sections were correlated with periodically spaced perforations of the rigid sacculus.
  • (4) Rigidly fixing the pubic symphysis stiffened the model and resulted in principal stress patterns that did not reflect trabecular density or orientations as well as those of the deformable pubic symphysis model.
  • (5) The fracture can be treated arthroscopically by rigid internal fixation, while at the same time treating possible associated lesions.
  • (6) This study examined the extent to which normal learners identified as cognitively rigid could use alternate strategies when instructed to do so.
  • (7) In some patients stimulation can reduce rigidity and coactivation of muscles immediately or slowly over days or months.
  • (8) Major alleviation of the rigidity and bradykinesia with chronic oral l-dopa therapy was not accompanied by any change in the silent period.
  • (9) At clinically achievable concentrations, the combination of nafcillin plus gentamicin produced enhanced killing against 13 of 14 strains of enterococci and was synergistic (by very rigid criteria) against 10 of 14 strains.
  • (10) Low-temperature NMR studies indicate that 5 is more rigid than tamoxifen; interconversion between enantiomeric conformers is slow on the NMR time scale at -75 degrees C.
  • (11) Global 'abnormality', hunching (rigid arching of back), hindlimb abduction, forepaw myoclonus, stereotyped lateral head movements, backing, and immobility occurred significantly only in drug-treated rats.
  • (12) A study was made of twelve cases with uveitis, glaucoma and hyphema (UGH) caused by rigid intraocular posterior chamber implants.
  • (13) Eight alpha-helices behave as relatively rigid bodies and corner regions are more flexible, showing larger fluctuations.
  • (14) This modification allows for precision of movement, ease of repositioning, and adaptation of rigid skeletal stabilization of mobilized osseous segments in the chin.
  • (15) The pedicle screw systems were always the most rigid.
  • (16) Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels and subunit isozyme patterns in cornea were monitored in 36 albino rabbits wearing thick, rigid, gas-permeable contact lenses for periods of 24 h, 2 and 7 days, and 1 and 3 months.
  • (17) The prevalence of sleep apnea, apnea index, duration of the longest episode of apnea, and penile rigidity were tabulated.
  • (18) During the last 21 months, 12 additional children have been managed with a more stringent protocol combining neck immobilization in a rigid cervical brace for 3 months and restriction of both contact and noncontact sports, together with a major emphasis on patient compliance.
  • (19) In the second placebo controlled experiment 150 mg im testosterone enanthate administration was associated with enhanced rigidity of NPT but with no effect on frequency or circumference change of NPT and no effect on frequency of REM.
  • (20) The whole isolator system included two rigid supply isolators, too.

Stiff


Definition:

  • (superl.) Not easily bent; not flexible or pliant; not limber or flaccid; rigid; firm; as, stiff wood, paper, joints.
  • (superl.) Not liquid or fluid; thick and tenacious; inspissated; neither soft nor hard; as, the paste is stiff.
  • (superl.) Firm; strong; violent; difficult to oppose; as, a stiff gale or breeze.
  • (superl.) Not easily subdued; unyielding; stubborn; obstinate; pertinacious; as, a stiff adversary.
  • (superl.) Not natural and easy; formal; constrained; affected; starched; as, stiff behavior; a stiff style.
  • (superl.) Harsh; disagreeable; severe; hard to bear.
  • (superl.) Bearing a press of canvas without careening much; as, a stiff vessel; -- opposed to crank.
  • (superl.) Very large, strong, or costly; powerful; as, a stiff charge; a stiff price.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) If you turn the bowl upside down, the whites should be stiff enough not to fall out.
  • (2) The stiffness of the fibre first rose abruptly in response to stretch and then started to decrease linearly while the stretch went on; after the completion of stretch the stiffness decreased towards a steady value which was equal to that during the isometric tetanus at the same sarcomere length, indicating that the enhancement of isometric force is associated with decreased stiffness.
  • (3) Current methodology for the in vitro determination of aortic and large artery stiffness is reviewed and involves three approaches: (1) the estimation of distensibility by pulse wave velocity measurement; (2) the estimation of distensibility from the fractional diameter change of a given arterial segment by imaging techniques (e.g., angiography, Doppler ultrasound) against pressure change; (3) the estimation of compliance by determining volume change against pressure change in the arterial system during diastolic runoff from the Windkessel model of the circulation.
  • (4) The maintenance of adequate blood circulation requires a sufficient ventricular contractility; in addition, to eject blood, the ventricles must first receive a sufficient volume, requiring a low diastolic stiffness.
  • (5) Stiffness was reduced in approximate proportion to the ramp stretch rate, and the reduction was confined largely to the elastic component.
  • (6) Proof stress, ultimate tensile strength, elongation, and plastic stiffness have been measured and results compared by use of analyses of variance.
  • (7) In other words, the stiffness of these areas was low and the recovery from deformation was fast.
  • (8) But the same court also just refused to hear an appeal of a Minnesota woman who's been ordered to pay more than $220,000 for downloading two-dozen songs – a testament to Congress' gift to Hollywood and its allies in the form of absurdly stiff penalties for minor infringement.
  • (9) The tension-length relation for the unstimulated (passive) cell is also linear between 1r and the elastic limit, but is displaced from the active tension-length curve and is of reduced stiffness.
  • (10) Bilaterals in summit seasons can be stiff exchanges, where digressions can carry risks: not enough said, too much said.
  • (11) We measured the stiffness of comparable configurations (1 or 2 bars) under axial compression, four-point-bending in two planes, and torsion.
  • (12) Tiny, tiny... rodents – some soft and grey, some brown with black stripes, in paintings, posters, wallcharts, thumb-tacked magazine clippings and poorly executed crayon drawings, hurling themselves fatally in their thousands over the cliff of their island home; or crudely taxidermied and mounted, eyes glazed and little paws frozen stiff – on every available surface.
  • (13) The bone stiffness also correlates strongly with the geometry (area) and slightly with bone mass; however, an unexpectedly low correlation was found between stiffness and density.
  • (14) Finally, fibrosis may paradoxically reduce passive stiffness if it leads to a thinning of the interventricular septum.
  • (15) A young male nephrotic patient, who was given small doses of clofibrate for hyperlipaemia, developed muscle pain, stiffness and very high serum levels of muscle enzymes.
  • (16) Impaired left ventricular stiffness may be an additional criterion for using corinfar in patients with coronary heart disease.
  • (17) The increase of elastic fibres following denervation and reinnervation represents an obviously meaningful reaction that may compensate for loss of tonic properties of muscle spindles without causing stiffness.
  • (18) Only the bone-patellar tendon-bone unit had maximum force and stiffness greater than that of the ACL.
  • (19) The initial stiffness is poorly described by material or catheter gauge.
  • (20) The stiffness tester and torque meter were found to yield nearly the same measurements of bending deformation for orthodontic wires as small as .007 inch diameter, provided the different bending apparatus are calibrated to each other.