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[ adjective ] not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
Synonyms Examples "a difficult task" "difficult times" "a difficult child" "found himself in a difficult situation" "why is it so hard for you to keep a secret?" Used in print ("Editorials"...)Berlin 's resilience is amazing , but if it has to hire its labor in the West the struggle will be hard indeed '' . (Chicago Daily Tribune...)If there is a moral lurking among the shenanigans , it is hard to find . (Organic Gardening and Farming,...)It is no harder to raise big , healthy , blooming plants than weak , sickly little things ; in_fact it is easier . It is a flavor that might take a_little getting used_to - not because it is unpleasant , but because the flavor is hard to define in the light of our experience with other fruits . (Edward Austin Walton, "On Education for the Interior...)Long hard years of `` on_the_job '' training had brought them to their competence . |
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[ adjective ] metaphorically hard
Examples "a hard fate" "took a hard look" "a hard bargainer" "a hard climb" Used in print ("Editorials"...)The weekly loss is partly counterbalanced by 500 arrivals each_week from West_Germany , but the hard truth , says Crossman , is that `` The closing_off of East_Berlin without interference from the West and with the use only of East_German , as distinct from Russian , troops was a major Communist victory , which dealt West_Berlin a deadly , possibly a fatal , blow . (Francis Pollini, Night....)Hired , hard lackeys of the Warmongering Capitalists . Like a particle drawn to a magnet he returned to that which was pressing so hard in his mind . (Gerald Green, The Heartless Light....)With a hard eye , she informed Moll : `` Do n't sure_'_nuff me , officer . They possessed no outer fortifications , no hard shells of confidence ; they had enough difficulty getting from day to day , let_alone having an awful crime thrust upon them . Related terms soft calculating case-hardened case-hardened brutal steely stiff difficult tough merciless insensitive |
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[ adjective ] not yielding to pressure or easily penetrated
Examples "hard as rock" Used in print (Jay C. Harris and John R. Van Wazer, "Detergent...)Hard surface cleaning in household application is represented by two classes of alkaline products : ( 1 ) the formulations made expressly for machine dishwashers , and ( 2 ) the general-purpose cleaners used for walls and woodwork . In_addition , many of the hard surface cleaners used for walls and woodwork had their genesis in trisodium_orthophosphate , which is still the major ingredient of a number of such products . These hard surface cleaners are discussed in Chapter 28 . An oversimplified differentiation between soft - and hard surface cleaning lies_in the magnitude and kind of surface involved . There are considerable differences between the requirements for textile and hard surface cleaning . |
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[ adverb ] with effort or force or vigor
Examples "the team played hard" "worked hard all day" "pressed hard on the lever" "hit the ball hard" "slammed the door hard" Used in print (The Dallas Morning News,...)`` We 'll work hard Tuesday , Wednesday and Thursday '' , Meek said , `` and probably will have a good scrimmage Friday . (The Times-Picayune, [New Orleans]...)No , other_than cleaning_out the pores and making the sweat_glands work harder . (Francis Pollini, Night....)His eyes blinked hard , snapping on and squashing some bad things that were trying to push their way into him . (Stephen Longstreet, Eagles Where I Walk....)He had ridden hard from Boston , and he was not used_to horseback . (W. H. Gass, "The Pedersen Kid," in The...)He was shouting and breathing hard and closing his fist on the pillow . |
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[ adjective ] very strong or vigorous
Examples "strong winds" "a hard left to the chin" "a knockout punch" "a severe blow" Used in print (The Sun, [Baltimore],...)Jim_Gentile bounced a hard shot off Kunkel 's glove and beat it out for a single , and when Lumpe grabbed the ball and threw it over first_baseman Throneberry 's head Brandt took third and Gentile second on the error . (St. Louis Post-Dispatch,...)The two top talents of the time , Mickey_Mantle and Willie_Mays , have hit the ball harder and more successfully so_far this early season than at any period in careers which , to be frank about it , never have quite reached expectations . (W. H. Gass, "The Pedersen Kid," in The...)I shook him a_little harder and made some noise . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] characterized by toilsome effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort
Examples "worked their arduous way up the mining valley" "a grueling campaign" "hard labor" "heavy work" "heavy going" "spent many laborious hours on the project" Used in print (Jack Kaplan, "The Health Machine Menace: Therapy by...)`` That 's a lot of hard earned money to lose '' , he says today . Related terms |
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[ adverb ] with firmness
Synonyms Examples "held hard to the railing" Used in print (Richard Ferber, Bitter Valley....)But the scar seemed to pull hard at the corner of his mouth , and his eyes were hurt and angry . |
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[ adverb ] earnestly or intently
Examples "thought hard about it" "stared hard at the accused" Used in print (The Department of State: A Fresh Look at the...)The senior policy officer may be moved to think hard about a problem by any of an infinite variety of stimuli : an idea in his own head , the suggestions of a colleague , a question from the Secretary or the President , a proposal by another department , a communication from a foreign government or an American ambassador abroad , the filing of an item for the agenda of the United_Nations or of any other of dozens of international bodies , a news_item read at the breakfast_table , a question to the President or the Secretary at a news_conference , a speech by a Senator or Congressman , an article in a periodical , a resolution from a national organization , a request for assistance from some private American interests abroad , et_cetera , ad_infinitum . |
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[ adverb ] slowly and with difficulty
Examples "prejudices die hard" Used in print (Arthur Miller, "The Prophecy," in The Best...)He looked at her out of himself , she thought , as he did only for an instant at_a_time , the look which always surprised her even now when his uncombable hair was yellowing a_little and his breath came hard through his nicotine choked lungs , the look of the gaunt youth she had suddenly found herself staring at in the Tate_Gallery on a Thursday once . |
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[ adverb ] with pain or distress or bitterness
Examples "he took the rejection very hard" |
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[ adjective ] of a drinker or drinking; indulging intemperately
Synonyms Examples "does a lot of hard drinking" "a heavy drinker" Related terms |
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[ adverb ] to the full extent possible; all the way
Examples "hard alee" "the ship went hard astern" "swung the wheel hard left" |
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[ adverb ] very near or close in space or time
Examples "it stands hard by the railroad tracks" "they were hard on his heels" "a strike followed hard upon the plant's opening" |
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[ adverb ] indulging excessively
Synonyms Examples "he drank heavily" Related terms |
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[ noun ] Last name, frequency rank in the U.S. is 12415
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