Harden
['hɑːd(ə)n] or ['hɑrdn]
Definition
(verb.) become hard or harder; 'The wax hardened'.
(verb.) make hard or harder; 'The cold hardened the butter'.
Checked by Beth--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To make hard or harder; to make firm or compact; to indurate; as, to harden clay or iron.
(v. t.) To accustom by labor or suffering to endure with constancy; to strengthen; to stiffen; to inure; also, to confirm in wickedness or shame; to make unimpressionable.
(v. i.) To become hard or harder; to acquire solidity, or more compactness; as, mortar hardens by drying.
(v. i.) To become confirmed or strengthened, in either a good or a bad sense.
Checked by Desmond
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Indurate, make hard, make callous.[2]. Habituate, inure, season, accustom, form, train, discipline.[3]. Strengthen, fortify, steel, nerve, brace.[4]. Sear, make callous, render insensible.[5]. Make obdurate, confirm in wickedness.
v. n. Grow or become hard.
Checked by Justin
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Inure, train, habituate, confirm, indurate, consolidate, compact
ANT:Disinure, relax, enervate, debilitate, dishabituate, soften, melt, mollify,colliquate, vaporize
Edited by Constantine
Examples
- The pouring of the entire house is accomplished in about six hours, and then the molds are left undisturbed for six days, in order that the concrete may set and harden. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- The buff finish looks all right, but it does not harden the silver sufficiently and in consequence the latter does not wear well. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Barbara went out: she returned soon-- Madam, Mrs. Harden says she has sent up the usual quantity. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- As his lineaments soften with life, their faces and their hearts harden to him. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Mouth washes are a valuable addition to the toilet as they assist to harden and heal the gums, cleanse the mouth and purify the breath. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- His niece was deep in thought likewise, trying to harden and prepare herself against farther questioning. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- It was still India rubber, but its surface would not adhere, nor would it harden at any degree of cold, nor soften at any degree of heat. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- They will work, as I have seen, with wax hardened with vermilion or softened with lard. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Shield, face-hardened nickel steel, 10 inches thick, 66 inches high. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- I wish I could be hardened to 'em, but I an't. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- It was harsh, it was shocking, even as applied to the most hardened sinner, in such a state of mental and bodily suffering. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- It would be quite possible for a narrowly conceived scheme of vocational education to perpetuate this division in a hardened form. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- I never see such a hardened little wretch! Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- It is a clay fire-hardened furnace for smelting iron. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- Now this won't do, said John, hardening his heart against the engaging little sinner. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- I have, returned Elinor, colouring likewise, and hardening her heart anew against any compassion for him, I have heard it all. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- After the engraver has worked out the design in intaglio the die is put through the operation of hardening, after which, being cleaned and polished, it is called a matrix. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Of course, the same hardening of the organic conditions affects the physiological structures which are involved in thinking. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Now, they say, said Haley, assuming a candid and confidential air, that this kind o' trade is hardening to the feelings; but I never found it so. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- The plate is then taken to be Harveyized by cementation, hardening, and tempering, as seen in Figs. 260, 261, and 262. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Misfortune had made Lily supple instead of hardening her, and a pliable substance is less easy to break than a stiff one. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- Once our profession becomes all absorbing it hardens into pedantry. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- After the mixture has been applied, it hardens and forms a tough skin fairly impervious to weathering. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- As soon as it cools it hardens into an impervious glossy layer that I should think eminently adapted to this purpose. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- Whitewash on the forehead hardens the brain into a state of obstinacy perhaps. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
Typist: Portia