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work hardening

American  

noun

  1. the toughening or strengthening of a metal by cold-working or another mechanical process.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The lawyers had not been at work hardening and defining vague traditions, and legally the position of the serf was far better than it was a hundred years later.

From Henry the Second by Green, Mrs. J. R.

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.