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hard water

American  

noun

  1. water that contains magnesium, calcium, or iron salts and therefore forms a soap lather with difficulty.


hard water Cultural  
  1. Water in which dissolved minerals make it difficult to produce a lather with soap.


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Hard water is usually associated with well water in regions where the rocks contain a large proportion of iron-bearing minerals.

Example Sentences

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Other plastics, including ones promoted as highly recyclable, such as clear polyethylene bottles, which hold some medications, or hard water bottles, are being recycled at just 16%.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 14, 2026

“It is abrasive enough to get through hard water and works great to polish surfaces. It has to have 0000 at the end,” she cautions.

From Seattle Times Feb. 16, 2024

But not everyone uses them, and they don’t address the impact of hard water on your home and appliances.

From Washington Post Aug. 23, 2022

However, for the sake of both your laundry and washing machine, it's worth buying a hard water test to find out if you have too-high levels of dissolved calcium and magnesium.

From Salon Aug. 19, 2022

Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall toward the earth’s center.

From "1984" by George Orwell

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