harden

harden
verb
1 (I, T) to become firm or stiff, or to make something firm or stiff: Make sure you give the paint enough time to dry and harden.
2 (I) to become more strict and determined and less sympathetic: Opposition to the military regime has hardened since the massacres. | a hardening of attitudes | His face hardened.
—compare soften (4)
3 (T) if an experience hardens someone, it makes them stronger and more able to deal with difficult or unpleasant situations
4 hardened criminal/police officer etc a criminal, etc who has had a lot of experience of things that are shocking and is therefore less affected by them
5 become hardened towards/to to become used to something shocking because you have seen it many times
6 harden your heart to make yourself not feel pity or sympathy for someone

Longman dictionary of contemporary English. 2004.

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  • Harden — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Arthur Harden (1865–1940), britischer Chemiker und Nobelpreisträger Cecil M. Harden (1894–1984), US amerikanische Politikerin Ingo Harden (* 1928), deutscher Musikkritiker und Autor James Harden (* 1989),… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • harden — 1 Harden, solidify, indurate, petrify, cake are comparable when they mean to make or to become physically hard or solid. Harden usually expresses an opposition to soften and therefore may be as often used of the process as of the effect. The term …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Harden — Hard en (h[aum]rd n), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Hardened} ( nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Hardening} ( n*[i^]ng).] [OE. hardnen, hardenen.] 1. To make hard or harder; to make firm or compact; to indurate; as, to harden clay or iron. [1913 Webster] 2. To… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • harden — hard‧en [ˈhɑːdn ǁ ˈhɑːrdn] verb [intransitive] FINANCE if prices on a financial market harden, they go up: • Tesco hardened 4 pence to 225.5 pence. * * * harden UK US /ˈhɑːdən/ verb [I] UK FINANCE, STOCK MARKET ► if prices or share prices harden …   Financial and business terms

  • harden — [v1] make or become solid amalgamate, anneal, bake, brace, buttress, cake, calcify, callous, cement, close, clot, coagulate, compact, congeal, consolidate, contract, crystallize, curdle, densify, dry, firm, fix, fortify, fossilize, freeze, gird,… …   New thesaurus

  • harden — [härd′ n] vt. [ME hardnen < ON harthna & < ME hard, HARD] 1. to make solid, rigid, or firm 2. to make callous [to harden one s heart] 3. to accustom to varying or adverse conditions or climate vi. to become solid, rigid, callous, etc …   English World dictionary

  • Harden — Hard en, v. i. 1. To become hard or harder; to acquire solidity, or more compactness; as, mortar hardens by drying. [1913 Webster] The deliberate judgment of those who knew him [A. Lincoln] has hardened into tradition. The Century. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Harden — Harden, so v.w. Gemeine Muräne …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Harden [1] — Harden, Dorf in Wales, s. Hawarden …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Harden [2] — Harden, Maximilian, Schriftsteller, geb. 20. Okt. 1861 in Berlin, hieß ursprünglich Witkowski, legte jedoch diesen Namen gleichzeitig mit seinen Angehörigen um das Jahr 1886 wegen eines Familienkonflikts nieder und nannte sich H., während sein… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Harden — Harden, Maximilian, Schriftsteller, geb. 20. Okt. 1861 in Berlin, Herausgeber (seit 1892) der Wochenschrift »Zukunft«, schrieb polit. und soziale Essays u. d. T. »Apostata« (2 Bde., 1892) …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

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