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hard-and-fast

[hahrd-n-fast, -fahst]
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adjective
  1. strongly binding; not to be set aside or violated: hard-and-fast rules.
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Origin of hard-and-fast

First recorded in 1865–70
Related formshard-and-fast·ness, noun

Synonyms

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fixed, precise, inflexible, inviolable, rigorous, unambiguous.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for hard and fast

hard and fast

adjective
  1. (hard-and-fast when prenominal) (esp of rules) invariable or strict
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with hard and fast

hard and fast

Defined, fixed, invariable, as in We have hard and fast rules for this procedure. This term originally was applied to a vessel that has come out of water, either by running aground or being put in dry dock, and is therefore unable to move. By the mid-1800s it was being used figuratively.

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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.