English
hard
see also: Hard
Pronunciation Adjective

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardest)

  1. (of material or fluid) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
    1. Resistant to pressure.
      This bread is so stale and hard, I can barely cut it.
    2. (of drink or drugs) Strong.
    3. (of water) High in dissolved chemical salts, especially those of calcium.
    4. (physics, of a ferromagnetic material) Having the capability of being a permanent magnet by being a material with high magnetic coercivity (compare soft).
    5. (photography, of light) Made up of parallel rays, producing clearly defined shadows.
  2. (personal or social) Having a severe property; presenting difficulty.
    1. Difficult or requiring a lot of effort to do, understand, experience, or deal with.

      • 1988, An Oracle, Edmund White
        Ray found it hard to imagine having accumulated so many mannerisms before the dawn of sex, of the sexual need to please, of the staginess sex encourages or the tightly capped wells of poisoned sexual desire the disappointed must stand guard over.
    2. Demanding a lot of effort to endure.
      a hard life
    3. Severe, harsh, unfriendly, brutal.
      a hard master;  a hard heart;  hard words;  a hard character
      don't be so hard on yourself
    4. (dated) Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
      • The stag was too hard for the horse.
      • 12 March, 1716, Joseph Addison, The Freeloader No. 24
        a power which will be always too hard for them
  3. Unquestionable.
    hard evidence;  a hard requirement
  4. (of a road intersection) Having a comparatively larger or a ninety-degree angle.
    At the intersection, there are two roads going to the left. Take the hard left.
  5. (slang, vulgar, of a male) Sexually aroused.
    I got so hard watching two hot guys wrestle each other on the beach.
  6. (bodybuilding) Having muscles that are tightened as a result of intense, regular exercise.
  7. (phonetics, uncomparable)
    1. Plosive.
      There is a hard c in "clock" and a soft c in "centre".
    2. Unvoiced
      Hard k, t, s, ch, as distinguished from soft, g, d, z, j.
    3. Velarized or plain, rather than palatalized
      The letter ж in Russian is always hard.
  8. (arts) Having a severe property; presenting a barrier to enjoyment.
    1. Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition.
    2. Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in colour or shading.
  9. (uncomparable)
    1. In a physical form, not digital.
      a soft or hard copy ; a digital or hard archive
    2. Using a manual or physical process, not by means of a software command.
      a hard reboot or reset
  10. (politics) Far, extreme.
    hard right, hard left
  11. Of silk: not having had the natural gum boiled off.
Synonyms Antonyms Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Adverb

hard (comparative harder, superlative hardest)

  1. (manner) With much force or effort.
    He hit the puck hard up the ice.
    They worked hard all week.
    At the intersection, bear hard left.
    The recession hit them especially hard.
    Think hard about your choices.
    • prayed so hard for mercy from the prince
    • c. 1610-11, William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, Scene i:
      […] My father / Is hard at study. Pray now, rest yourself;
  2. (manner) With difficulty.
    His degree was hard earned.
  3. (obsolete) So as to raise difficulties.
    • 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica
      The question is hard set.
  4. (manner) Compactly.
    The lake had finally frozen hard.
  5. (now, archaic) Near, close.
    • , Acts xviii. 7
      […] whose house joined hard to the synagogue.
    • 1999, George RR Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam 2011, page 418:
      It was another long day's march before they glimpsed the towers of Harrenhal in the distance, hard beside the blue waters of the lake.
Translations Noun

hard

  1. (countable, nautical) A firm or paved beach or slope convenient for hauling vessels out of the water.
    • 1952, Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu Baron Montagu, ‎Beaulieu, the Abbey, Palace House, and Buckler's Hard (page 36)
      The Monastery's ironworks at Sowley were renowned for centuries but declined with the passing of the 'wooden walls' at Buckler's Hard — a great number of these ships having been built with timber from the Beaulieu Woods […]
  2. (countable, motorsports) A tyre whose compound is softer than superhards, and harder than mediums.
  3. (uncountable, drugs, slang) Crack cocaine.
  4. (uncountable, slang) Hard labor.
    The prisoners were sentenced to three years' hard.
Hard
Proper noun
  1. Surname


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