Hardness
['hɑːdnəs] or ['hɑrdnɪs]
Definition
(noun.) the quality of being difficult to do; 'he assigned a series of problems of increasing hardness'; 'the ruggedness of his exams caused half the class to fail'.
(noun.) a quality of water that contains dissolved mineral salts that prevent soap from lathering; 'the costs of reducing hardness depend on the relative amounts of calcium and magnesium compounds that are present'.
(noun.) the property of being rigid and resistant to pressure; not easily scratched; measured on Mohs scale.
Typed by Brandon--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The quality or state of being hard, literally or figuratively.
(n.) The cohesion of the particles on the surface of a body, determined by its capacity to scratch another, or be itself scratched;-measured among minerals on a scale of which diamond and talc form the extremes.
(n.) The peculiar quality exhibited by water which has mineral salts dissolved in it. Such water forms an insoluble compound with soap, and is hence unfit for washing purposes.
Typist: Shelby
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Firmness, solidity, compactness, impenetrability.[2]. Difficulty, perplexity.[3]. Scarcity, penury.[4]. Hardship, suffering, tribulation.
Checked by Jerome
Examples
- There was something horrible to Dorothea in the sensation which this unresponsive hardness inflicted on her. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- But, oh dear, what is the hardness of stone? Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- The strength of the blow depends on the hardness of the metal, and when one part is harder than another the workman alters his blows accordingly. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It is curious what patches of hardness and tenderness lie side by side in men's dispositions. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- The diamond teeth are the only parts which come in contact with the rock, and their hardness is such that an enormous length can be bored with but little appreciable wear. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- No scorn, no hardness, no valor any more! Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- The veil fell from his hardness and despotism. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- An object, stone, orange, tree, chair, is supposed to convey different impressions of color, shape, size, hardness, smell, taste, etc. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Their hardness--their hideous, worldly hardness--revolted me. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Later on, after Plato was dead, he set up a school at the Lyceum in Athens and taught, criticizing Plato and Socrates with a certain hardness. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Nothing, compared to the hardness of the unregenerate human heart! Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- The object is to impart hardness to the rubber, and to prevent its losing the form into which it has been pressed. William K. David. Secrets of Wise Men, Chemists and Great Physicians.
- It varies a great deal in hardness as well as in color and for that reason must be selected with care when desired for building purposes. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- And in like manner does the touch adequately perceive the qualities of thickness or thinness, of softness or hardness? Plato. The Republic.
- I would she had retained her original haughtiness of disposition, or that I had a larger share of Front-de-Boeuf's thrice-tempered hardness of heart! Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
Typed by Hannah