English
tough cookie
Noun

tough cookie (plural tough cookies)

  1. (informal) A person who can endure physical or mental hardship; a hardened, strong-willed person.
    • 1973, "[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,908287,00.html Ioannidis: Power in the Wings]," Time, 10 December 1973:
      An austere, hard-lining rightist, who lives alone, Ioannidis is described by one Washington military official as "a real tough cookie."
    • 2002, Picabo Street (with Dana White), Picabo: Nothing to Hide, Contemporary Books (2002), ISBN 007140273X, page 6 ↗:
      I run to Micki and give her a hug. She was racing with a broken thumb — a tough cookie, just like me.
    • 2005, Liz Austin, "Miers had stormy tenure at Texas Lottery Commision ↗," Spokesman-Review, 3 October 2005:
      "Although she's a small-framed woman, we all believed she came through the Marines and maybe ate nails for breakfast because she's one tough cookie," said Horace Taylor […]
  2. (informal) A hardy, resilient animal or plant.
    • 2001, Sybille Engels, Basic Gardening: Everything You Need to Make Your Garden Grow, Silverback Books (2001), ISBN 9781930603769, page 134 ↗:
      Boxwood is a pretty tough cookie. Wind, cold, wet, exhaust fumes, and industrial pollution are of no consequence.
    • 2006, "Katrina Cat ↗", Jet, 13 March 2006
      Though its name is Cupcake, Tristan Carter's cat proved it was one tough cookie surviving on its own since Hurricane Katrina forced Carter to abandon it […]
  3. (informal) Something troublesome or difficult to handle.
    • 2002, Encyclopedia of North American Sporting Dogs (ed. Steven Smith), Willow Creek Press (2002), ISBN 1572235012, page 63 ↗:
      The pup that struggles constantly might be one tough cookie when it comes to training; […]
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