firmness

firm ¹  (fûrm)

adj. firm·er, firm·est

1. Resistant to externally applied pressure.

2. Marked by or indicating the tone and resiliency of healthy tissue: firm muscles.

3. Securely fixed in place: Despite being hit by the car, the post was still firm.

4. Indicating or possessed of determination or resolution: a firm voice.

5. Constant; steadfast: a firm ally.

6.

a. Not subject to change; fixed and definite: a firm bargain; a firm offer.

b. Unfluctuating; steady: Stock prices are still firm.

7. Strong and sure: a firm grasp.

tr. & intr.v. firmed, firm·ing, firms

To make or become firm. Often used with up.

adv. firmer, firmest

Without wavering; resolutely: stand firm.

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[Middle English ferm, from Old French, from Latin firmus; see dher- in Indo-European roots.]

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firmly adv.

firmness n.

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firm ²  (fûrm)

n.

1. A commercial partnership of two or more persons, especially when unincorporated.

2. The name or designation under which a company transacts business.

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[Italian firma, from firmare, to ratify by signature, from Medieval Latin firmre, from Latin, to confirm, from firmus, firm; see dher- in Indo-European roots.]

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Firmness 

See Also: FLEXIBILITY/INFLEXIBILITY

1. (Bread …) as hard as pumice —Mary Stewart
2. Be like a rocky head and on which the waves break incessantly, but it stands fast and the waters sink to rest —Marcus Aurelius
3. (Continue) firm and unmoved as a column —James Boswell
4. Firm as alabaster —Henry James
5. Firm as a monkey’s tail —Creole expression

   Before Jean Claude Duvalier’s Haitian regime toppled in 1983, he was quoted as saying, “I’m in control … firm as a monkey’s tail.”

6. [Figure] firm as an apple —H. E. Bates
7. (My heart is) firm as a stone —The Holy Bible/Job
8. Firm as morality —Thorn Gunn
9. [A distant ridge] firm as solid crystal —William Wordsworth
10. Firm standing like a stone wall —Bernard Bee

    The term “To stonewall” comes from Bee’s simile about Jackson at first battle of Bull Run.

11. Hard and dry as rustling corn —Dame Edith Sitwell
12. [A trained gangster] hard and solid, like a shark —John Malcolm
13. Hard as a billiard ball —Anon
14. (Soil) hard as a bowling alley —E. B. White
15. Hard as a bulletproof vest —Russell Baker, New York Times, May 21, 1986

    To put this in full context: “Americans like their fish, and fish roe too, fried hard as a bulletproof vest.”

16. Hard as a heavy-duty canvas fire-hose —Sharon Olds

    In the poem from which this is taken, Six-Year-Old Boy, the fire-hose is used to describe a small boy waking up to urinate.

17. Hard as an egg at Easter —Michael Denham
18. (His body thin and stringy but) hard as armor plating —Clive Cussler
19. Hard as a stone pillow —Anon

    Back in the T’ang Dynasty chen or ceramic pillows were used during as well as after life as a means for keeping the eyes clear and preserving sight.

20. (The wheel of your life is … as) hard as caked clay which nothing can grow in —Amy Lowell
21. (Words as) hard as cannon-balls —Ralph Waldo Emerson
22. Hard as corkwood —Miguel de Cervantes
23. (Felt as) hard as dried mud —James Crumley

    The descriptive frame of reference is the face of a man who’s been beaten up.

24. (Her breasts were small but looked) hard as green apples —Anon
25. Hard as the knots in a whip —Yehuda Amichai
26. Hard as nails —Charles Dickens

    This now commonplace simile may well precede its appearance in Dickens’ Oliver Twist. Other writers who’ve used it since have modified and extended it, e.g.: “Hard and sharp as nails,” attributed to S. J. Weyman and “Hard as nails and sour as vinegar,” attributed to George Beillairs.

27. Hardened and set like concrete —Karl Shapiro
28. My ass … was tight as a bull’s in a thunderstorm —Lael Tucker Wertenbaker
29. (His jaw was) rigid as a horseshoe —Flannery O’Connor
30. Rigid as a starfish —Joyce Cary
31. Rigid as bamboo —Diane Ackerman
32. Rigid as iron post —Marge Piercy
33. (He went as) rigid as Lenin’s mummy —Joseph Wambaugh
34. Rigid as though bound and gagged —Eudora Welty
35. She’s hard as steel —William Shakespeare
36. (Heat) solid as a hickory stick —Eudora Welty
37. Solid as a hill —William Boyd
38. Stand firm as a tower, which never shakes its top, no matter what winds are blowing —Dante Alighieri
39. Stiff as a garden hose left out in December —Will Weaver

    In Weaver’s novel, Red Earth, White Earth, the comparison is used to describe the physical condition of a man who’s had a stroke.

40. (His head,) stiff as a scarab —Theodore Roethke
41. Stiff as chessmen —Elizabeth Bowen
42. Stiff as icicles —Anon
43. Stiff as sticks —Dan Jacobson
44. [Bed sheet] stretched tight as a drumhead —Walker Percy
45. (Backside) sturdy as baking soda biscuits —Curtis White
46. Taut as a sail —Barbara Howes
47. Taut as a tent —Karl Shapiro
48. (Neck tendons) taut as banjo strings —Derek Walcott
49. Tight as a scout’s knot —Lorrie Moore

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	firmness - the muscle tone of healthy tissue; "his muscular firmness" soundness strength - the property of being physically or mentally strong; "fatigue sapped his strength"
	2.	firmness - the trait of being resolute; "his resoluteness carried him through the battle"; "it was his unshakeable resolution to finish the work" firmness of purpose, resoluteness, resolve, resolution trait - a distinguishing feature of your personal nature self-command, self-possession, will power, willpower, self-will, self-control, possession - the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior steadiness - freedom from wavering or indecision; constancy of resolve or conduct; "He trusted her clear steadiness that she would do what she said" sturdiness - resoluteness evidenced by strength of character; "sturdiness of moral principle" stiffness - firm resoluteness in purpose or opinion or action; "a charming host without any touch of stiffness or pomposity" bullheadedness, pigheadedness, self-will, stubbornness, obstinacy, obstinance - resolute adherence to your own ideas or desires single-mindedness - characterized by one unified purpose adamance, obduracy, unyieldingness - resoluteness by virtue of being unyielding and inflexible decisiveness, decision - the trait of resoluteness as evidenced by firmness of character or purpose; "a man of unusual decisiveness" determination, purpose - the quality of being determined to do or achieve something; firmness of purpose; "his determination showed in his every movement"; "he is a man of purpose" steadfastness - steadfast resolution
	3.	firmness - the property of being unyielding to the touch hardness - the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale
	4.	firmness - the quality of being steady or securely and immovably fixed in place steadiness immovability, immovableness - not capable of being moved or rearranged granite - something having the quality of granite (unyielding firmness); "a man of granite" sureness - the quality of being steady and unfailing; "sureness of hand" stability, stableness - the quality or attribute of being firm and steadfast

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firmness

noun

1. hardness, resistance, density, rigidity, stiffness, solidity, inflexibility, compactness, fixedness, inelasticity the firmness of the ground

2. steadiness, tension, stability, tightness, soundness, tautness, tensile strength, immovability testing the firmness of the nearest stakes

3. strength, tightness, steadiness He was surprised at the firmness of her grip.

4. resolve, resolution, constancy, inflexibility, steadfastness, obduracy, strictness, strength of will, fixity, fixedness, staunchness There was no denying his considerable firmness of purpose

Translations

firmness [ˈfɜːmnɪs] N

1. (= hardness) [of mattress, muscles, thighs] → dureza f

2. (= tightness) [of grip] → fuerza f

3. (= determination) → firmeza f
firmness of character/purpose → firmeza f de carácter/propósito

4. (= severity) → firmeza f, mano f dura

firmness

n

(= solidity, of mattress, pillow, fruit, foundation etc) → Festigkeit f; (of stomach, thighs) → Straffheit f

(= strength: of hold, grip, handshake) → Festigkeit f; (= steadiness: of support, chair, ladder) → Stabilität f

(fig, of agreement, promise, commitment, belief, support) → Festigkeit f; (of person, action, manner) → Entschlossenheit f; (= strictness) → Strenge f; firmness of character → Charakterstärke f; it was thanks to his firmness of leadership → es war seiner festen Führung zu verdanken

firmness [ˈfɜːmnɪs] n (of voice, decision) → fermezza; (of object) → solidità