Hard

Definition: Hard

Hard

Adjective

1. Not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure; "a difficult task"; "nesting places on the cliffs are difficult of access"; "difficult times"; "a difficult child"; "found himself in a difficult situation"; "why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?".

2. Metaphorically hard; "a hard fate"; "took a hard look"; "a hard bargainer"; "a hard climb".

3. Not yielding to pressure or easily penetrated; "hard as rock".

4. Very strong or vigorous; "strong winds"; "a hard left to the chin"; "a knockout punch"; "a severe blow".

5. Characterized by toilsome effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort; "worked their arduous way up the mining valley"; "a grueling campaign"; "hard labor"; "heavy work"; "heavy going"; "spent many laborious hours on the project"; "set a punishing pace".

6. Of speech sounds.

7. Of a drinker or drinking; indulging intemperately; "does a lot of hard drinking"; "a heavy drinker".

8. Having undergone fermentation; "hard cider".

9. Having a high alcoholic content; "hard liquor".

10. : unfortunate or hard to bear; "had hard luck"; "a tough break".

11. : dried out; "hard dry rolls left over from the day before".

Adverb

1. With effort or force or vigor; "the team played hard"; "worked hard all day"; "pressed hard on the lever"; "hit the ball hard"; "slammed the door hard".

2. With firmness; "held hard to the railing".

3. Earnestly or intently; "thought hard about it"; "stared hard at the accused".

4. Causing great damage or hardship; "industries hit hard by the depression"; "she was severely affected by the bank's failure".

5. Slowly and with difficulty; "prejudices die hard".

6. Indulging excessively; "he drank heavily".

7. Into a solid condition; "concrete that sets hard within a few hours".

8. Very near or close in space or time; "it stands hard by the railroad tracks"; "they were hard on his heels"; "a strike followed hard upon the plant's opening".

9. With pain or distress or bitterness; "he took the rejection very hard".

10. : to the full extent possible; all the way; "hard alee"; "the ship went hard astern"; "swung the wheel hard left".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "hard" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references)

Note: Hard \Hard\, adjective. [Comparative Harder; superlative Hardest.]. (references)

Fine Arts

Food & Agriculture

Literature

Mining

Physics

Slang in 1811

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Synonyms: Hard

Difficulty

Adjective: difficult, not easy, hard, tough; troublesome, toilsome, irksome; operose, laborious, onerous, arduous, Herculean, formidable; sooner said than done; more easily said than done, easier said than done.

Impenitence

Adjective: impenitent, uncontrite, obdurate; hard, hardened; seared, recusant; unrepentant; relentless, remorseless, graceless,

Pain

Sharp, acute, sore, severe, grave, hard, harsh, cruel, biting, caustic; cutting, corroding, consuming, racking, excruciating, searching, grinding, grating, agonizing; envenomed; catheretic, pyrotic.

Physical Insensibility

Adjective: insensible, unfeeling, senseless, impercipient, callous, thick-skinned, pachydermatous; hard, hardened; case hardened; proof, obtuse, dull; anaesthetic; comatose, paralytic, palsied, numb, dead.

Severity

Adjective: severe; strict, hard, harsh, dour, rigid, stiff, stern, rigorous, uncompromising, exacting, exigent, exigeant, inexorable, inflexible, obdurate, austere, hard-headed, hard-nosed, hard-shell, relentless, Spartan, Draconian, stringent, strait-laced, searching, unsparing, iron-handed, peremptory, absolute, positive, arbitrary, imperative; coercive; tyrannical, extortionate, grinding, withering, oppressive, inquisitorial; inclement; (ruthless) a; cruel; (malevolent); haughty, arrogant; precisian.

Strength

Adjective: strong, mighty, vigorous, forcible, hard, adamantine, stout, robust, sturdy, hardy, powerful, potent, puissant, valid.

Crosswords: Hard

Afrikaan (loud), Dutch (bleak, fast, hard, implacable, loud, quickly, relentless, severe, strict, swiftly), French (hard porn), Norwegian (callous, hard, harsh).

Welcome to hard times, Daddy (The Sweet Hereafter; writing credit: Atom Egoyan)

If we bring a little joy into your humdrum lives, it makes us feel as if our hard work ain't been in vain for nothing (Singin' in the Rain; writing credit: Betty Comden; Adolph Green)

It must be hard living your life off a couple of scraps of paper (Memento; writing credit: Bo Goldman; Lawrence Hauben)

I'd like to have your advice on how to live comfortably without working hard. (Rebecca; writing credit: Daphne Du Maurier; Philip MacDonald)

No, I don't think so. This is my life, I worked hard for it and I want it back (Enemy of the State; writing credit: David Marconi)

Hard Core biloozy (Rock In A Hard Place (Cheshire Cat); performing artist: Aerosmith)

It's hard for me to say I'm sorry (Hard to Say I'm Sorry; performing artist: Az Yet)

It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday (It's So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday; performing artist: Boyz II Men)

You're a hard habit to break (Hard Habit to Break; performing artist: Chicago)

She works hard for the money ("She Works Hard for the Money"; performing artist: Donna Summer)

History is strewn thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill, but a lie, well told, is immortal. (references; author: Mark Twain)

I'm astounded by people who want to 'know' the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown. (references; author: Woody Allen)

It is hard to read a cartoon aloud. (references; author: unknown)

Life is hard, no one makes it out alive. (references; author: unknown)

A rumor is as hard to unspread as butter. (references; author: unknown)

Hard As Nails (2001)

Three the Hard Way (1974)

Drive Fast Drive Hard (1973)

Detective Harry Hard (1973)

Hard Riders (1973)

She's Playing Hard To Get (performing artist: Hi-Five)

Love's Been A Little Bit Hard On Me (performing artist: Juice Newton)

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (performing artist: Neil Sedaka)

Hard Times of Old England (performing artist: Steeleye Span)

A Hard Day's Night (performing artist: The Beatles)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

References

• Hard Coal Mining Restructurization in Poland: A Strategic Entry Report, 1996 (reference)

• The 2000-2005 Outlook for Hard Cheese in Asia (reference)

• The 2003-2008 World Outlook for Hard Sided Luggage (reference)

• The World Market for Apparel and Clothing Accessories Made of Plastics or Vulcanized Rubber Excluding Hard Rubber: A 2004 Global Trade Perspective (reference)

  (more reference examples)

Books

• The Cadillac Diet: Or an Act of God Is a Hard Act to Follow (reference)

• The Men's Health Hard Body Plan : The Ultimate 12-Week Program for Burning Fat and Building Muscle (reference)

• Study Is Hard Work: The Most Accessible and Lucid Text Available on Acquiring and Keeping Study Skills Through a Lifetime (reference)

• The Power of Logical Thinking: Easy Lessons in the Art of Reasoning...and Hard Facts About Its Absence in Our Lives (reference)

• A Hard Choice: Sexual Abstinence in an Out-Of-Control World (reference)

  (more book examples)

Periodicals

• European Media Hard Data (reference)

• Hard Hat Construction Magazine (reference)

• Hard Row To Hoe (reference)

• Journal Of Hard Tissue Biology (reference)

• Rock Hard (reference)

  (more periodical examples)

Theater & Movies

• White Crane Hard Qigong (reference)

  (more DVD examples; more video examples)

Music

• Hard Times in the Country (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

High Tech

• WESTERN DIGITAL WD800BB Caviar 80GB Internal EIDE Hard Drive for PC (reference)

• Deluxe Hard Rolling Carry-on/check/ship Case for Dp6150 (reference)

• Dell Optiplex GX1 Desktop (350-MHz Pentium II, 64 MB RAM, 3.2 GB hard drive) (reference)

• Compaq Presario 5310US Desktop (1.2-GHZ Celeron, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive) + FS740 17" Flat Screen Monitor + IJ650 Color Inkjet Printer (reference)

• Toshiba Satellite 1115-S103 Notebook (1.5-GHz Celeron, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive) (reference)

  (more camera examples; more video game examples; more computer examples; more electronic examples; more software examples)

Consumer Goods

• Calphalon Professional Hard Anodized 8-Piece Cookware Set (reference)

• Simply Calphalon Nonstick Hard Anodized 8-Piece Cookware Set (reference)

• T-Jak TJ-104 Your Hard Working Helper (reference)

  (more baby examples; more wireless phone examples; more garden examples; more kitchen examples; more tool examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

This patient with congenital syphilis has developed a perforation of hard palate due to gummatous destruction. These destructive tumors can also attack the skin, long bones, eyes, mucous membranes, throat, liver, or stomach lining. Credit: CDC.

Philip C. Doran Taking it easy after a hard field season. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

William M. Scaife Getting there the hard way No helicopters in 1924. Credit: Coast & Geodetic Survey Historical Image Collection.

The "Hard Conch" restaurant displays shell art. Credit: America's Coastlines.

A really giant conch on the roof of the "Hard Conch" restaurant. Credit: America's Coastlines.

Look hard and you will find a baby giant petrel camouflaged in the rocks. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.

Science is hard work!. Credit: Paths Less Taken - NOAA at the Ends of the Earth.

Another hard day of fishing. Credit: Fisheries.

Pheww!!! This buoy launching stuff is hard work. Crewman takes a break during Gulf Stream eddy studies while proceeding to another mooring site. Credit: Fisheries.

Catching a little nap after a long hard mission. Credit: Flying With NOAA.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

This being usually brought about by such in the commonwealth who misuse the power they have; it is hard to consider it aright, and know at whose door to lay it, without knowing the form of government in which it happens. (Second Treatise of Government)

Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. (reference)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

It rained dreadfully hard for half an hour while we were at breakfast

It is hard to have patience with people who say "There is no death" or "Death doesn't matter.

This also seems a fitting occasion to notice the other hard words in that poem

To see the dingy cloud come drooping down, obscuring everything, one might have thought that Nature lived hard by, and was brewing on a large scale

In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness which starts to set in at about 2:55, when you know that you've had all the baths you can usefully have that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the papers you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul

By dint of hard work, courage, perseverance, and will, he had succeeded in earning by his labour about seven hundred francs a year

Mr Dedalus screwed his glass into his eye and stared hard at both his sons

And the hard little pears take shape, and the beginning of the fuzz comes out on the peaches

Another farmer who lived hard by, and was a particular friend of my master, came on a visit on purpose to inquire into the truth of this story

Nature is hard to be overcome, but she must be overcome

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Middle age. It’s hard to believe. (references)

This can be hard for many to accept. (references)

Avoid hard back-and-forth scrubbing. (references)

Business

Japanese consumers are hard to please. (references)

It says that Japanese consumers are hard to please. (references)

Small and medium size agribusiness are fighting hard to stay afloat. (references)

Children

Switzerland

The production, possession, distribution, or showing of hard pornography are crimes punishable with fines or prison sentences. (references)

Chad

Sexual relations, even with consent, before the age of 13 years are considered to be rape and the prescribed sentence is for hard labor in perpetuity; the age of consent is 14. Rape of children and child abuse were problems. (references)

Turkey

In the past, the migration--forced or voluntary--of many families, past terrorism against teachers, and school closings in the southeast uprooted children and moved them to cities that were hard pressed to find the resources to provide basic, mandatory services such as schooling. (references)

Civil Liberties

Egypt

The court sentenced Shayboub to 15 years in prison at hard labor. (references)

Cuba

The Government encourages the cultural community to attain the highest international standards in order to sell its work overseas for hard currency. (references)

Cuba

Citizens do not have the right to receive publications from abroad, although news stands in hotels for foreigners and certain hard currency stores sell foreign newspapers and magazines. (references)

Economic History

Nicaragua

LEGENDS HOTEL & HARD ROCK CAFE, U.S. capital. (references)

Iceland

During the 1970s the oil shocks hit Iceland hard. (references)

Moldova

Moldovan enterprises that export for hard currency. (references)

Human Rights

Mauritius

In March two men were sentenced to 6 months of hard labor for their roles in the 1999 riots. (references)

Egypt

Arrest without due cause, threatening death, or using physical torture is punishable by temporary hard labor. (references)

Egypt

If the defendant dies under torture, the crime is one of intentional murder punishable by a life sentence at hard labor. (references)

Political Economy

HUNGARY

Foreigners and Hungarians can maintain both hard currency and forint accounts. (references)

BANGLADESH

Unless major overhauls within the NBR are approved by the new government, future revenue growth targets will be hard to meet. (references)

BRAZIL

In March 2001, the Ministry of Agriculture lifted the ban on U.S. Soft Red Winter, Hard Red Spring, and Hard Red Winter wheat. (references)

Trade

Armenia

There is no limit on hard currency imports to Armenia. (references)

Russia

Exim also developed financing structures based on hard currency revenues. (references)

Russia

Customs duties are payable in hard currency or rubles at the current exchange rate. (references)

Travel

Azerbaijan

Beer, soft drinks and hard alcohol are widely sold. (references)

Hong Kong

Above all, it is a society that emphasizes hard work and success. (references)

Kenya

Interruptions in service do occur and simple local calls often are hard to complete. (references)

Women

Zambia

The courts normally sentence defendants convicted of rape to hard labor. (references)

Kuwait

The entire family admitted to regularly beating her with hard objects for several months. (references)

China

According to legal experts, it is very hard to litigate a sex discrimination suit because the vague legal definition makes it difficult to quantify damages. (references)

Worker Rights

Iran

By law women and minors may not be employed in hard labor or, in general, night work. (references)

Turkmenistan

The Penal Code prohibits prostitution, which is punishable by 2 years' imprisonment or hard labor. (references)

Mali

Penalties for violations of the law prohibiting forced contractual labor include a fine or hard labor. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Hard

Hard

A body thrust hard together

Expressions using "hard": A hard case ♦ a hard nut to crack ♦ a hard task ♦ as hard as nails ♦ be a glutton for hard work ♦ be as hard as nails ♦ be between a rock and a hard place ♦ be hard ♦ be hard done by ♦ be hard of hearing ♦ be hard on ♦ be hard on smb. ♦ be hard on smb.'s heels ♦ be hard pressed ♦ be hard put to do smth. ♦ be hard to please ♦ be hard up ♦ be hard upon ♦ bear hard on ♦ become hard ♦ blow hard and long ♦ die hard ♦ don't ride him too hard ♦ drink hard ♦ drive a hard bargain ♦ drive hard ♦ drive oneself hard ♦ fallen on hard times ♦ find it hard ♦ for hard wear ♦ get a hard on ♦ get hard ♦ go hard with ♦ hard a lee ♦ hard a port ♦ hard a starboard ♦ hard a weather ♦ hard air temper ♦ Hard alee ♦ hard alloy ♦ Hard and fast ♦ hard and fast rule ♦ hard aport ♦ hard as a bone ♦ hard as bone ♦ hard as nails ♦ hard as steel ♦ hard astarboard ♦ hard at work ♦ hard back ♦ hard bargain ♦ hard bark ♦ hard beech ♦ hard behind ♦ hard biscuit ♦ hard bitten ♦ hard boiled ♦ hard boot ♦ hard breathing ♦ Hard by ♦ hard by it ♦ Hard cancer ♦ hard candy ♦ Hard case ♦ hard cash ♦ hard chancre ♦ hard chaparral ♦ hard character ♦ hard cheese! ♦ hard chromium ♦ hard cider ♦ hard clam ♦ hard climb ♦ hard coal ♦ hard component of cosmic rays ♦ hard copy ♦ hard core ♦ hard core pinch ♦ hard court ♦ hard cover book ♦ hard currency ♦ hard cyder ♦ hard dick ♦ hard disc ♦ hard disk ♦ hard disk drive ♦ hard done by ♦ hard drink ♦ hard drinker ♦ hard drive ♦ hard drug ♦ hard drugs ♦ hard dry ♦ hard ecu ♦ hard error ♦ hard evidence ♦ hard fact ♦ hard facts ♦ hard fate ♦ hard features ♦ hard fern. Additional references.

Beginning with "hard": hard-act-to-follow, hard-and-fast, hard-arsed, hard-as-a-board, hard-as-flint, hard-as-nails, hard-assed, hard-back, hard-backed, hard-baked, hard-beaten, hard-bitten, hard-blown, hard-blue, hard-board, hard-bodied, hard-boiled, hard-boiled egg, hard-boiling, hard-boned, hard-bound, hard-breathing, hard-burnt, hard-but-fair, hard-cash, hard-chasing, hard-chested, hard-class, hard-climbing, hard-coded, hard-copy, hard-core, hard-core area, hard-court, hard-covered, hard-currency, hard-currency-earning, hard-cuts, hard-dealing, hard-discount, hard-disk, hard-disks, hard-done-by, hard-drinking, hard-drive, hard-driven, hard-driving, hard-earned, hard-ecu, hard-edge, hard-edged, hard-eyed, hard-faced, Hard-favored, Hard-favoredness, hard-favoured, Hard-featured, hard-fighting, hard-filled, Hard-fisted, hard-fletched, hard-fought, hard-fought-for, hard-fruit, hard-going, hard-grafting, hard-grained, Hard-handed, hard-hat, Hard-headed, hard-headedly, Hard-headedness, hard-heading, Hard-hearted, hard-heartedly, Hard-heartedness, hard-held, hard-hewn, hard-hit, hard-hitting, hard-hitting high-pressure, hard-knocks, hard-knotted, hard-knuckled, Hard-labored, hard-labour, hard-laboured, hard-learned, hard-learnt, hard-left, hard-limbed, hard-line, hard-liner, hard-liner person, hard-liners, hard-living, hard-lobbied, hard-looking, hard-lost, hard-luck, hard-luck story, hard-made, hard-man, hard-men, Hard-mouthed, hard-muscled, hard-nosed, hard-nut, hard-of-hearing, hard-on, hard-ons, hard-pack, hard-packed, hard-paved, hard-playing, hard-porn, hard-power, hard-pressed, hard-programme, hard-programmed, hard-punching, hard-pushed, hard-put, hard-reined, hard-ridden, hard-riding, hard-right, hard-rock, hard-rocking, hard-running, hard-saved, hard-saving, hard-science, hard-sell, hard-selling, Hard-shell, hard-shell clam, hard-shell crab, hard-shelled, Hard-shelled clam, hard-sided, hard-skin, hard-skinned, hard-skinned puffball, hard-sliding, hard-slog, hard-smoking, hard-soft, hard-solder, hard-soled, hard-standing, hard-stretched, hard-stuff, hard-surfaced, hard-swearing, Hard-tack, hard-tackling, hard-tail, hard-tailing, hard-taxing, hard-tempered, hard-thinking, hard-to, hard-to-achieve, hard-to-build, hard-to-come-by, hard-to-defeat, hard-to-define, hard-to-employ, hard-to-enumerate, hard-to-find, hard-to-get, hard-to-get-along-with, hard-to-handle, hard-to-heat, hard-to-judge, hard-to-let, hard-top, hard-to-place, hard-to-please, hard-to-pronounce, hard-to-prove, hard-to-reach, hard-to-read, hard-to-replace, hard-to-reverse, hard-to-sell, hard-up, Hard-visaged, hard-walled, hard-ware, hard-water, hard-wearing, hard-wearingness, hard-winter, hard-wire, hard-wired, hard-wiring, hard-won, hard-wood, hard-work, hard-worked, hard-worker, hard-working, hard-working person, hard-yellow.

Ending with "hard": diamond-hard, iron-hard, semi-hard.

Containing "hard": do-dum-dum-waking-up-is-hard-to-do, Ni-hard iron, non-hard-wearing, run-down-at-the-end-of-a-long-hard-term, sail-it-on-its-ear-and-hard-luck-if-you're-seasick, semi-hard-on, very-hard-to-please.