stitch, stiche, styche

[A. S.stice =a pricking sensation, from stician =to prick, to pierce, to stick (q. v.); Ger. stich a prick, a stitch, from stechen to prick; sticken to stitch; Dut. stikken; Sw.stick a.] I. Ordinary Language: 1. Literally: IMG:content-0330.png:[blocks in formation] *stith, *stithe, *stythe, s. [Icel. sted hi ; Sw. städ .] An anvil. "Determined to strike on the stith while the iron was hot."-Greene: Card of Fancy. *stith, *stithe, a. [A. S. stidh ; O. Fris. stith .] Strong, stiff, rigid. " Stith and strong."- Story of Genesis and Exodus , 1,591. stith-, *stith-ie, *steth-y, 8. [STITH, 8.] 1. A smith's workshop; a forge, a smithy. "My imaginations are as foul As Vulcan's stithy." Shakesp .: Hamlet , iii. 2. 2. An anvil. "There is of it [steele] which serveth better for stithie or anvil heads."-P. Holland : Pliny , bk. xxiv., ch. xiv. stith-, *styth-y, v. t. [STITHY, 8.] To forge. as a smith on an anvil. "The forge that stithied Mars his helm." Shakesp.: Troilus and Cre ida , iv. 5. stive (1), v . t. . [O. Fr. estiver; Lat. stipo= to compre , to pack tight; Dut. stijven , Sw.styfva ; German steifen to stiffen. Allied to stiff (q. v.).] [STIFLE, v.] A. Transitive: *1. To stiffen. "The hote sunne hade so hard the hides stiued." William of Palerne, 3,033. 2. To stuff; to pack close; to cram, to crowd; hence, to make hot, sultry, or close; to render stifling. "His chamber was commonly stived with friends or suitors of one kind or other." -Wotton : Remains, p. 172. B. In trans.: To be stifled; to stew, as in a close atmosphere. *stive (2), v. t. [A variant of stew (q. v.).] Το stew, as meat.