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harden

   Also found in: Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
hard·en  (härdn)
v. hard·ened, hard·en·ing, hard·ens
v.tr.
1. To make hard or harder.
2. To enable to withstand physical or mental hardship.
3. To make unfeeling, unsympathetic, or callous: "To love love and not its meaning hardens the heart in monstrous ways" (Archibald MacLeish).
4. To make sharp, as in outline.
5. To protect (nuclear weapons) by surrounding with earth or concrete.
v.intr.
1. To become hard or harder.
2. To rise and become stable. Used of prices.
3. To become inured.
Synonyms: harden, acclimate, acclimatize, season, toughen
These verbs mean to make resistant to hardship, especially through continued exposure: was hardened to frontier life; is acclimated to the tropical heat; was acclimatized by long hours to overwork; became seasoned to life in prison; toughened by experience.

harden
Verb
1. to make or become hard; freeze, stiffen, or set
2. to make or become tough or unfeeling: life in the camp had hardened her considerably
3. to make or become stronger or firmer: they hardened defences
4. to make or become more determined or resolute: the government has hardened its attitude to the crisis
5. Commerce (of prices or a market) to cease to fluctuate
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Verb1.harden - become hard or harder; "The wax hardened"
change - undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night"
encrust, incrust - form a crust or a hard layer
callus - form a callus or calluses; "His foot callused"
harden, indurate - make hard or harder; "The cold hardened the butter"
calcify - become impregnated with calcium salts
cure - make (substances) hard and improve their usability; "cure resin"; "cure cement"; "cure soap"
soften - become soft or softer; "The bread will soften if you pour some liquid on it"
2.harden - make hard or harder; "The cold hardened the butter"
change - undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature; "She changed completely as she grew older"; "The weather changed last night"
face-harden - harden steel by adding carbon
callus - cause a callus to form on; "The long march had callused his feet"
anneal, temper, normalize - bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling; "temper glass"
harden, indurate - become hard or harder; "The wax hardened"
soften - make soft or softer; "This liquid will soften your laundry"
3.harden - harden by reheating and cooling in oil; "temper steel"
modify - make less severe or harsh or extreme; "please modify this letter to make it more polite"; "he modified his views on same-gender marriage"
4.harden - make fit; "This trip will season even the hardiest traveller"
toughen - make tough or tougher; "This experience will toughen her"
5.harden - cause to accept or become hardened to; habituate; "He was inured to the cold"
callous, cauterise, cauterize - make insensitive or callous; deaden feelings or morals
brace oneself for, prepare for, steel oneself against, steel onself for - prepare mentally or emotionally for something unpleasant
accustom, habituate - make psychologically or physically used (to something); "She became habituated to the background music"

harden
verb 2. accustom, season, toughen, train, brutalize, inure, habituate, case-harden
Translations
harden [ˈhɑːdn] vtendurecer [+ steel]; templar;
(fig) → curtir: [+ determination]; fortalecer
vi [substance] → endurecerse
harden [ˈhɑːdn] hard vtdurcir [+ steel]; tremper (fig); endurcir
vi [substance] → durcir
harden [ˈhɑːdn] hard vthärten;
(attitude, person) → verhärten
harden [ˈhɑːdn] vtindurire [+ steel]; temprare;
(fig) [+ determination]; rafforzare
vi [substance] → indurirsi


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
I might perhaps harden myself in time against the injustice of general reproach, but the loss of HIS valued esteem I am, as you well know, ill-fitted to endure; and when to this may be added the consciousness of having injured you with your family, how am I to support myself?
All on a sudden some night it will come wailing in the wind outside your window, and you must blacken your heart and harden your face with another strangling grip of its slim appealing throat, another blow upon its angel eyes.
And thus did it happen--for everything must I tell you, that your heart may not harden against the suddenly departing one!
 
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