Meaning of Stiff | Babel Free

Definitions

1. An average person, usually male, of no particular distinction, skill, or education.
   Canada, US, countable, slang, uncountable
2. A surname.
3. A person who is deceived, as a mark or pigeon in a swindle.
   countable, slang, uncountable
4. A cadaver; a dead person.
   countable, slang, uncountable
5. A flop; a commercial failure.
   countable, slang, uncountable
6. A person who leaves (especially a restaurant) without paying the bill.
   US, countable, slang, uncountable
7. A customer who does not leave a tip.
   US, broadly, countable, slang, uncountable
8. Any hard hand where it is possible to exceed 21 by drawing an additional card.
   countable, uncountable
9. Negotiable instruments, possibly forged.
   countable, slang, uncountable
10. A note or letter surreptitiously sent by an inmate.
    countable, slang, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“working stiff”

“The clerk shrugged: “That's the boss's little girl.” “Why, the lucky stiff!” said Keating. “He's been holding out on me.” “You misunderstood me,” the clerk said coldly. “It's his daughter. It's Dominique Francon.””

“She convinced the stiff to go to her hotel room, where her henchman was waiting to rob him.”

“This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies!”

“If the movie was a stiff it wasn't any of their specific faults. They were all in it together and they were jobbed in and jobbed out for two weeks and gone and they got a pile of money for their efforts.”

“They never did sell any records. I don't mean they didn't sell 100,000. I mean they didn't sell 5000. Total. National. Coast-to-coast. The record was a stiff.”

CEFR level