rĭgesco, gui, 3, v. inch. n. [rigeo], to grow stiff or numb; to stiffen, harden (poet.).
I Lit.
1 With cold : vestes indutae, Verg. G. 3, 363: aquae in grandines, Plin. 2, 63, 63, § 155.—
2 From other causes: oratori eloquentissimo, dum ad dicendum componitur, summa riguerunt, Sen. Ira, 2, 3, 3: stillata sole rigescunt electra, Ov. M. 2, 364: ubera, id. ib. 9, 357: lacerti, id. ib. 4, 554: Gorgone corpora visā, id. ib. 5, 209 et saep.: si Parthi vos nihil calficiunt, nos non nihil frigore rigescimus, Cael. ap. Cic. Fam. 8, 6, 4.—
II Transf., to stand erect , stand up , to bristle up : sensi metu riguisse capillos, Ov. F. 1, 97.—
III Trop.: numquam corrupta rigescent Saecula? i. e. will grow serious or manly , Claud. in Eutr. 2, 113.