rough on, be
Idioms-
Be harmful to or difficult for, as in The harsh winter has been rough on the highways , or Their divorce was rough on the whole family .
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Treat harshly, be severe with, as in The police have been very rough on house-breakers , or Don't be too rough on Sam; he's only a child . Both colloquial usages date from the second half of the 1800s.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
