GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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1.       
   Hard , a. [Compar. Harder ; superl. Hardest.] [OE. hard, heard, AS. heard; akin to OS. & D. hard, G. hart, OHG. herti, harti, Icel. harðr, Dan. haard, Sw. hård, Goth. hardus, Gr. κρατύς strong, κάρτος, κράτος, strength, and also to E. -ard, as in coward, drunkard, -crat, -cracy in autocrat, democracy; cf. Skr. kratu strength, kṛ to do, make. Cf. Hardy.]
    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.
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   Difficult, mentally or judicially; not easily apprehended, decided, or resolved; as a hard problem.
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   The hard causes they brought unto Moses.
   Ex. xviii. 26.
   
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   In which are some things hard to be understood.
   2 Peter iii. 16.
   
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   Difficult to accomplish; full of obstacles; laborious; fatiguing; arduous; as, a hard task; a disease hard to cure.
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   Difficult to resist or control; powerful.
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   The stag was too hard for the horse.
   L'Estrange.
   
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    A power which will be always too hard for them.
   Addison.
   
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   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.
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   I never could drive a hard bargain.
   Burke.
   
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   Difficult to please or influence; stern; unyielding; obdurate; unsympathetic; unfeeling; cruel; as, a hard master; a hard heart; hard words; a hard character.
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   Not easy or agreeable to the taste; harsh; stiff; rigid; ungraceful; repelling; as, a hard style.
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   Figures harder than even the marble itself.
   Dryden.
   
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   Rough; acid; sour, as liquors; as, hard cider.
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   (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.
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   Wanting softness or smoothness of utterance; harsh; as, a hard tone.
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   (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.
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   Hard cancer, Hard case, etc. See under Cancer, Case, etc. -- Hard clam, or Hard-shelled clam (Zool.), the quahog. -- Hard coal, anthracite, as distinguished from bituminous coal (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 (Zool.), 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.
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