harden

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“
The bar of soap will skin or case-harden, and next day may be "close-piled," or placed in the storage bins, where they should remain for two or three weeks, when they will be in perfect condition for packing into boxes ready for distribution Illustration: FIG.

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Definitions (28)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (9)

  1. transitive verb To make hard or harder.
  2. transitive verb To enable to withstand physical or mental hardship.
  3. transitive verb To make unfeeling, unsympathetic, or callous: "To love love and not its meaning hardens the heart in monstrous ways” (Archibald MacLeish).
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Examples (50)

  • As he feathered his leader around a tight curve, Jack felt his expression harden. —  A Lady of Expectations
  • Mr. Sleary has a heart which no brandy-and-water can harden, and he enables Mr. Gradgrind to send off the wretched cub to America, refusing any guerdon but a glass of his favourite beverage. —  Life of Charles Dickens
  • The wicked have been silenced Bishop saw Miranda's face harden, and wasn't surprised when she spoke in a quiet tone that could have cut steel Lynet Grainger was fifteen, Justin. —  Kay Hooper - Out Of The Shadows
  • She watched his expression harden as he read the resolution in hers. —  This is a work of fiction
  • Allow each coat 24 hours in which to harden, and rub each hardened coat to a smooth finish, using curled hair, or fine steel wool, or fine oiled sandpaper, before applying the next Illustration: Cedar Chest Complete The metal reinforcements for the corners can be bought at a hardware store, as can the lock, hinges, and handles. —  Mission Furniture How to Make It, Part 2
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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harden:   hardening ·  hardened
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English hardnen, an extension, with verb-formative -n (cf. happen), of Middle English harden (present indicative harde), make hard: see hard, v. and a.
  2. Also hurden; from Middle English *herden, from hardes, herdes, hards: see hards and -en.
 

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/ˈhɑrdn/
by American Heritage

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