Hard | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Härd, a.

adjective

a. [compar. HARDER; superl. HARDEST.] [A-S. heard, O. Sax. & D. hard, Icel. hardr, Dan. haard, Sw. hård, N. H. Ger. hart, O. H. Ger. harti, herti, Goth. hardus, allied to Gr. κάρτος, for κράτος, strength, vigor.]

Sense 1. Not easily penetrated, or separated into parts; not yielding to pressure; firm; solid; compact; — applied to material bodies, and opposed to soft; as, hard wood; hard flesh; a hard apple.

Sense 2. Difficult to penetrate with the understanding; as, a hard problem; a hard cause. “The hard causes they brought unto Moses.” Ex. xviii. 26.

In which are some things hard to be understood. 2 Pet. iii. 16.

Sense 3. Difficult to accomplish; full of obstacles; laborious; fatiguing; distressing; as, a hard task; a disease hard to cure.

Sense 4. Difficult to resist or control.

The stag was too hard for the horse. L’Estrange.

Sense 5. Difficult to bear or endure; not easy to put up with or consent to; hence, severe; rigorous; oppressive; unreasonable; unjust; as, a hard lot; hard work; hard times; hard fare; a hard winter; hard conditions or terms.

I never could drive a hard bargain. Burke.

Sense 6. Difficult to please or touch; not easy to influence; rigorous; severe; unfeeling; cruel; as, a hard master; a hard heart; hence, proceeding from such a disposition; rough; harsh; abusive; as, hard words or thoughts; also, expressive of such a disposition; rough; coarse; as, a hard face or countenance.

Sense 7. Not easy or pleasant to follow with the mind; not agreeable to the taste; harsh; stiff; forced; constrained.

Others . . . make the figures harder than the marble itself. Dryden.

His diction is hard, his figures too bold. Dryden.

Sense 8. Rough; acid; sour, as liquors; as, hard cider.

Sense 9. (Pron.) Abrupt or explosive in utterance; not aspirated, sibilated, or pronounced with a gradual change of the organs from one position to another; — said of certain consonants, as c in came, and g in go, as distinguished from the same letters in center, general, &c.

Hard money, coin or specie, as distinguished from paper money. — Hard pan, the hard stratum of earth lying beneath the soil. See PAN. — Hard water, water which contains some mineral substance that decomposes soap, and thus renders it unfit for washing. — Hard wood, wood of a solid texture; as walnut, oak, ash, box, and the like.

Synonyms— Solid; arduous; powerful; trying; unyielding; stubborn; stern. See SOLID and ARDUOUS.

Hārd, adv.

adverb

1. With pressure; with urgency; hence, diligently; earnestly. “And prayed so hard for mercy from the prince.” Dryden. My father is hard at study. Shak.

With difficulty; as, the vehicle moves hard.
Uneasily; vexatiously. Shak.
So as to raise difficulties; closely.

The question is hard set. Browne.

With pressure or urgency; vehemently; vigorously; energetically; hence, rapidly; nimbly; as, to run hard.
With force or violence; forcibly; violently; as, to press, to blow, or to rain, hard.

Hard by, near by; close at hand; not far off. “Hard by a cottage window smokes.” Milton. — Hard up, closely pressed by want or necessity; without money or resources; in extremity; hard run. [Colloq.] ☞ Hard is often used in nautical language as a word of emphasis joined to other words of command to the helmsman or others, denoting that the order should be carried out with the utmost energy and thoroughness, or that the helm should be put close to the direction indicated; as, Hard a-port! Hard a-starboard! Hard a-lee! Hard a-weather! Hard up! Hard is also often used in composition, as hard-earned, &c.

Härd, n.

noun

A kind of pier or landing-place for boats on a river. Marryatt.
(pl.) The refuse, or coarse part, of flax; tow.