hard-and-fast
[ hahrd-n-fast, -fahst ]
/ ˈhɑrd nˈfæst, -ˈfɑst /
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adjective
strongly binding; not to be set aside or violated: hard-and-fast rules.
SYNONYMS FOR hard-and-fast
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Origin of hard-and-fast
First recorded in 1865–70
OTHER WORDS FROM hard-and-fast
hard-and-fastness, nounDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for hard-and-fast
British Dictionary definitions for hard-and-fast
hard and fast
adjective
(hard-and-fast when prenominal) (esp of rules) invariable or strict
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.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.