| | Definition: | |
\Hard\, a. [Compar. {Harder}; superl. {Hardest}.] [{OE}.
heard, AS. heard; akin to OS. & D. heard, G. hart, OHG.
harti, Icel. har?r, Dan. haard, Sw. h[*a]rd, Goth. hardus,
Gr.? strong, ?, ?, strength, and also to E. -ard, as in
coward, drunkard, -crat, -cracy in autocrat, democracy; cf.
Skr. kratu strength, ? to do, make. Cf. {Hardy}.]
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. 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. Difficult to accomplish; full of obstacles; laborious;
fatiguing; arduous; as, a hard task; a disease hard to
cure.
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. 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. Difficult to please or influence; stern; unyielding;
obdurate; unsympathetic; unfeeling; cruel; as, a hard
master; a hard heart; hard words; a hard character.
7. Not easy or agreeable to the taste; stiff; rigid;
ungraceful; repelling; as, a hard style.
Figures harder than even the marble itself.
--Dryden.
8. Rough; acid; sour, as liquors; as, hard cider.
9. (Pron.) 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.
10. Wanting softness or smoothness of utterance; harsh; as, a
hard tone.
11. (Painting)
(a) Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures;
formal; lacking grace of composition.
(b) Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in the
coloring or light and shade.
{Hard cancer}, {Hard case}, etc. See under {Cancer}, {Case},
etc.
{Hard clam}, or {Hard-shelled clam} (Zo["o]l.), the guahog.
{Hard coal}, anthracite, as distinguished from bituminous or
soft coal.
{Hard and fast}. (Naut.) See under {Fast}.
{Hard finish} (Arch.), 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} (Zo["o]l.), the northern native oyster. [Local,
U. S.]
{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}.
\Hard\, adv. [OE. harde, AS. hearde.]
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. With difficulty; as, the vehicle moves hard.
3. Uneasily; vexatiously; slowly. --Shak.
4. So as to raise difficulties. `` The guestion is hard
set''. --Sir T. Browne.
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; as, to run hard.
6. Close or near.
Whose house joined hard to the synagogue. --Acts
xviii.7.
{Hard by}, {near by}; close at hand; not far off. ``Hard by a
cottage chimney smokes.'' --Milton.
{Hard pushed}, {Hard run}, greatly pressed; as, he was hard
pushed or hard run for time, money, etc. [Colloq.]
{Hard up}, closely pressed by want or necessity; without
money or resources; as, hard up for amusements. [Slang]
Note: Hard in nautical language is often joined to words of
command to the helmsman, denoting that the order should
be carried out with the utmost energy, or that the helm
should be put, in the direction indicated, to the
extreme limit, as, Hard aport! Hard astarboard! Hard
alee! Hard aweather up! Hard is also often used in
composition with a participle; as, hard-baked;
hard-earned; hard-working; hard-won.
\Hard\, v. t.
To harden; to make hard. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
\Hard\, n.
A ford or passage across a river or swamp.
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