Hard Definition
härd
harder, hardest
adjective
harder, hardest
Not easily dented, pierced, cut, or crushed; resistant to pressure; firm and unyielding to the touch; rigid; solid and compact.
Webster's New World
Having firm muscles; in good bodily trim; vigorous and robust.
Webster's New World
Well protected from an attack, as by aerial bombardment.
Bunkers and other hard targets.
American Heritage
Showing, or done with, great force or strength; powerful; violent; vigorous.
A hard blow.
Webster's New World
Demanding great physical or mental effort or labor; fatiguing; difficult.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adverb
With strenuous effort; intently.
Worked hard all day; stared hard at the accused criminal.
American Heritage
Energetically and persistently; steadily and earnestly.
Work hard.
Webster's New World
With strength, violence, or severity.
Hit hard.
Webster's New World
In such a way as to cause great damage or hardship.
Industrial cities hit hard by unemployment.
American Heritage
With difficulty.
Hard-earned, hard-sought.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
noun
idiom
hard and fast
- Defined, fixed, and invariable:
hard and fast rules.
American Heritage
hard of hearing
- Having a partial loss of hearing.
- People who have partial loss of hearing, considered as a group.
American Heritage
hard put
- Undergoing great difficulty:
Under the circumstances, he was hard put to explain himself.
American Heritage
hard up
- In need; poor.
American Heritage
be hard on
- to treat severely; be harsh toward
- to be difficult, unpleasant, or painful for
Webster's New World
Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Hard
- hard and fast
- hard of hearing
- hard put
- hard up
- be hard on
- be hard put (to it)
- hard and fast
- hard of hearing
- hard up
- play hard to get
Origin of Hard
-
From Middle English, from Old English heard (“hard”), from Proto-Germanic *harduz, from Proto-Indo-European *kert-, *kret- (“strong; powerful”). Cognate with West Frisian hurd, Dutch hard, Low German hard, hart, German hart, Danish hård.
From Wiktionary
-
Middle English from Old English heard kar- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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