Definitions for the word "hard" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. superl.
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. superl.
Difficult, mentally or judicially; not easily apprehended, decided, or resolved; as a hard problem.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
3. superl.
Difficult to accomplish; full of obstacles; laborious; fatiguing; arduous; as, a hard task; a disease hard to cure.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. superl.
Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
5. superl.
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
6. superl.
Difficult to please or influence; stern; unyielding; obdurate; unsympathetic; unfeeling; cruel; as, a hard master; a hard heart; hard words; a hard character.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. superl.
Not easy or agreeable to the taste; stiff; rigid; ungraceful; repelling; as, a hard style.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
8. superl.
Rough; acid; sour, as liquors; as, hard cider.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
9. superl.
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
10. superl.
Wanting softness or smoothness of utterance; harsh; as, a hard tone.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
11. superl.
Rigid in the drawing or distribution of the figures; formal; lacking grace of composition.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
12. superl.
Having disagreeable and abrupt contrasts in the coloring or light and shade.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
13. adv.
With pressure; with urgency; hence, diligently; earnestly.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
14. adv.
With difficulty; as, the vehicle moves hard.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
15. adv.
Uneasily; vexatiously; slowly.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
16. adv.
So as to raise difficulties.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
17. adv.
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
18. adv.
Close or near.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
19. v. t.
To harden; to make hard.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
20. n.
A ford or passage across a river or swamp.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
21. adj.
1 (of a substance etc.) Firm and solid. 2 a difficult to understand, explain, or accomplish. B (foll. By to + infin.) Not easy to (hard to please). 3 difficult to bear (a hard life). 4 unfeeling; severely critical. 5 (of a season or the weather) severe. 6 unpleasant to the senses, harsh (hard colours). 7 a strenuous, enthusiastic, intense (a hard worker). B severe, uncompromising (a hard bargain). C polit. Extreme; most radical (the hard right). 8 a (of liquor) strongly alcoholic. B (of drugs) potent and addictive. C (of pornography) highly obscene. 9 (of water) containing mineral salts that make lathering difficult. 10 established; not disputable (hard facts). 11 (of currency, prices, etc.) High; not likely to fall in value. 12 (of a consonant) guttural (as c in cat, g in go). adv. Strenuously, intensely, copiously (try hard; raining hard). be hard on 1 be difficult for. 2 be severe in one''s treatment or criticism of. 3 be unpleasant to (the senses). Be hard put to it (usu. Foll. By to + infin.) Find it difficult. Hard by close by. Hard on (or upon) close to in pursuit etc. hardish adj. Hardness n. [old english]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
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Additional Info
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