hard

difficult to do or accomplish; fatiguing; troublesome: a hard task.

difficult or troublesome with respect to an action, situation, person, etc.: hard to please;a hard time.

difficult to deal with, manage, control, overcome, or understand: a hard problem.

involving a great deal of effort, energy, or persistence: hard labor;hard study.

performing or carrying on work with great effort, energy, or persistence: a hard worker.

vigorous or violent in force; severe:a hard rain;a hard fall.

bad; unendurable; unbearable: hard luck.

oppressive; harsh; rough: hard treatment.

austere; severe: a hard winter;the hard times of the Great Depression.

harsh or severe in dealing with others: a hard master.

difficult to explain away; undeniable: hard facts.

that can be verified; factual, as distinguished from speculation or hearsay: hard information.

harsh or unfriendly; resentful; severe; bitter: hard feelings;hard words.

of stern judgment or close examination; searching: a hard look.

lacking delicacy or softness; not blurred or diffused; clear and distinct; sharp; harsh: a hard line;a hard, bright light;hard features;a hard face.

(of a photograph) contrasty.

severe or rigorous in terms: a hard bargain.

sternly realistic; dispassionate; unsentimental: a hard, practical man;a hard view of life.

incorrigible; disreputable; tough: a hard character.

Scot. and North England. stingy; mean: hard with money.

in coins or paper money as distinguished from checks, securities, promissory notes, or other negotiable instruments).

(of paper money or a monetary system) supported by sufficient gold reserves and easily convertible into the currency of a foreign nation.

(of money) scarce or available at high interest rates: a hard loan.

denoting assets with intrinsic value, as gold, silver, or diamonds.

(of alcoholic beverages)

(of wine) tasting excessively of tannin.

(of an illicit narcotic or drug) known to be physically addictive, as opium, morphine, or cocaine.

(of water) containing mineral salts that interfere with the action of soap.

(of bread and baked goods)

(of a fabric) having relatively little nap; smooth: Silk is a harder fabric than wool or cotton.

(of the landing of a rocket or space vehicle) executed without decelerating: a hard landing on the moon.: Compare soft (def. 28).

(of a missile base) equipped to launch missiles from underground silos.

(of a missile) capable of being launched from an underground silo.

Military. being underground and strongly protected from nuclear bombardment.

Agriculture. noting wheats with high gluten content, milled for a bread flour as contrasted with pastry flour.

Phonetics.

(in the making of rope) noting a lay having a considerable angle to the axis of the rope; short.

Physics. (of a beam of particles or photons) having relatively high energy: hard x-rays.: Compare soft (def. 29).

(of the penis) erect.

harshly or severely.

so as to be solid, tight, or firm: frozen hard.

with strong force or impact: She tripped and came down hard on her back.

in a deeply affected manner; with genuine sorrow or remorse: She took it very hard when they told her of his death.

closely; immediately: Failure and defeat seemed hard at hand. The decision to ban students from the concerts followed hard on the heels of the riot.

to an unreasonable or extreme degree; excessively; immoderately: He's hitting the bottle pretty hard.

Nautical. closely, fully, or to the extreme limit: hard aport;hard alee.

British Slang. hard labor.

difficult to do or accomplish; arduous: a hard task

difficult to understand or perceive: a hard question

showing or requiring considerable physical or mental energy, effort, or application: hard work; a hard drinker

stern, cold, or intractable: a hard judge

exacting; demanding: a hard master

harsh; cruel: a hard fate

inflicting pain, sorrow, distress, or hardship: hard times

tough or adamant: a hard man

forceful or violent: a hard knock

cool or uncompromising: we took a long hard look at our profit factor

indisputable; real: hard facts

chem (of water) impairing the formation of a lather by soap: See hardness (def. 3)

practical, shrewd, or calculating: he is a hard man in business

too harsh to be pleasant: hard light

(of alcoholic drink) being a spirit rather than a wine, beer, etc: the hard stuff

(of a drug such as heroin, morphine, or cocaine) highly addictive: Compare soft (def. 20)

physics (of radiation, such as gamma rays and X-rays) having high energy and the ability to penetrate solids

physics (of a vacuum) almost complete

mainly US (of goods) durable

short for hard-core: See hard core (def. 3), hard core (def. 4)

(of news coverage) concentrating on serious stories

phonetics

politically extreme: the hard left

British and NZ informal incorrigible or disreputable (esp in the phrase a hard case)

(of bread, etc) stale and old

a hard nut to crack

hard by near; close by

hard doer NZ a tough worker at anything

hard done by unfairly or badly treated

hard up informal

put the hard word on Australian and NZ informal to ask or demand something from

with application; earnestly or intently: she thought hard about the formula

with great intensity, force, or violence: his son's death hit him hard

(foll by on, upon, by, or after) close; near: hard on his heels

(foll by at) assiduously; devotedly

slowly and reluctantly: prejudice dies hard

go hard with to cause pain or difficulty to (someone): it will go hard with you if you don't tell the truth

hard at it working hard

hard put or hard put to it scarcely having the capacity (to do something): he's hard put to get to work by 9:30

slang hard labour

slang an erection of the penis (esp in the phrase get or have a hard on)