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Entry 19 senses · 4 variants Webster, 1913

Hard

/(härd)/ · IPA /hɑɹd/
01 a. Not easily penetrated, cut, or separated into parts; not yielding to pressure; firm; solid; compact; -- applied to material bodies, and opp…
  1. 1.
    Not easily penetrated, cut, or separated into parts; not yielding to pressure; firm; solid; compact; -- applied to material bodies, and opposed to soft; as, hard wood; hard flesh; a hard apple.
  2. 2.
    Difficult, mentally or judicially; not easily apprehended, decided, or resolved; as a hard problem.
    “The hard causes they brought unto Moses.” — Ex. xviii. 26.
    “In which are some things hard to be understood.” — 2 Peter iii. 16.
  3. 3.
    Difficult to accomplish; full of obstacles; laborious; fatiguing; arduous; as, a hard task; a disease hard to cure.
  4. 4.
    Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
    “The stag was too hard for the horse.” — L'Estrange.
    “A power which will be always too hard for them.” — Addison.
  5. 5.
    Difficult to bear or endure; not easy to put up with or consent to; hence, severe; rigorous; oppressive; distressing; unjust; grasping; as, a hard lot; hard times; hard fare; a hard winter; hard conditions or terms.
    “I never could drive a hard bargain.” — Burke.
  6. 6.
    Difficult to please or influence; stern; unyielding; obdurate; unsympathetic; unfeeling; cruel; as, a hard master; a hard heart; hard words; a hard character.
  7. 7.
    Not easy or agreeable to the taste; harsh; stiff; rigid; ungraceful; repelling; as, a hard style.
    “Figures harder than even the marble itself.” — Dryden.
  8. 8.
    Rough; acid; sour, as liquors; as, hard cider.
  9. 9.
    Abrupt or explosive in utterance; not aspirated, sibilated, or pronounced with a gradual change of the organs from one position to another; -- said of certain consonants, as c in came, and g in go, as distinguished from the same letters in center, general, etc.(Pron.)
  10. 10.
    Wanting softness or smoothness of utterance; harsh; as, a hard tone.
  11. 11.
    Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition.(Painting)
Phrases & compounds
Hard cancer — See under Cancer, Case, etc.
Hard clam — the quahog.
Hard coal — anthracite, as distinguished from bituminous coal (soft coal).
Hard and fast — See under Fast.
Hard finish — a smooth finishing coat of hard fine plaster applied to the surface of rough plastering.
Hard lines — hardship; difficult conditions.
Hard money — coin or specie, as distinguished from paper money.
Hard oyster — the northern native oyster.
Hard pan — the hard stratum of earth lying beneath the soil; hence, figuratively, the firm, substantial, fundamental part or quality of anything; as, the hard pan of character, of a matter in dispute, etc. See Pan.
Hard rubber — See under Rubber.
Hard solder — See under Solder.
Hard water — water, which contains lime or some mineral substance rendering it unfit for washing. See Hardness, 3.
Hard wood — wood of a solid or hard texture; as walnut, oak, ash, box, and the like, in distinction from pine, poplar, hemlock, etc.
In hard condition — in excellent condition for racing; having firm muscles; -- said of race horses.
Syn. Solid; arduous; powerful; trying; unyielding; stubborn; stern; flinty; unfeeling; harsh; difficult; severe; obdurate; rigid. See Solid, and Arduous.
02 adv. With pressure; with urgency; hence, diligently; earnestly.
  1. 1.
    With pressure; with urgency; hence, diligently; earnestly.
    “And prayed so hard for mercy from the prince.” — Dryden.
    “My father Is hard at study; pray now, rest yourself.” — Shak.
  2. 2.
    With difficulty; as, the vehicle moves hard.
  3. 3.
    Uneasily; vexatiously; slowly.
  4. 4.
    So as to raise difficulties.
  5. 5.
    With tension or strain of the powers; violently; with force; tempestuously; vehemently; vigorously; energetically; as, to press, to blow, to rain hard; hence, rapidly; nimbly; as, to run hard.
  6. 6.
    Close or near.
    “Whose house joined hard to the synagogue.” — Acts xviii. 7.
Phrases & compounds
Hard by — ; close at hand; not far off.
Hard pushed — greatly pressed; as, he was hard pushed or hard run for time, money, etc.
Hard up — closely pressed by want or necessity; without money or resources; as, hard up for amusements.
03 v. t. To harden; to make hard.
  1. 1.
    To harden; to make hard.[Obs.]
04 n. A ford or passage across a river or swamp.
  1. 1.
    A ford or passage across a river or swamp.