Link Centre Dictionary

harden

har·den

UK/ˈhɑːdn̩/ US/ˈhɑɹdn̩/ uncommon informal

verb

1.

become hard or harder

  • “The wax hardened”
Synonyms
Antonyms
2.

make hard or harder

  • “The cold hardened the butter”
Synonyms
Antonyms
3.

harden by reheating and cooling in oil

  • “temper steel”
Synonyms
4.

make fit

  • “This trip will season even the hardiest traveller”
Synonyms
5.

cause to accept or become hardened to; habituate

  • “He was inured to the cold”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English hardenen, equivalent to hard + -en. Cognate with Danish hærdne (“to harden; cure”), Swedish hårdna (“to harden”), Norwegian herdne (“to harden”), Icelandic harðna (“to harden”).

Phrases

  • case harden
  • harden off
  • harden one's neck
  • harden someone's heart
  • harden up

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.