Library / English Dictionary

HARDEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cause to accept or become hardened to; habituate

Example:

He was inured to the cold

Synonyms:

harden; indurate; inure

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "harden" is one way to...):

accustom; habituate (make psychologically or physically used (to something))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "harden"):

callous; cauterise; cauterize (make insensitive or callous; deaden feelings or morals)

brace oneself for; prepare for; steel oneself against; steel onself for (prepare mentally or emotionally for something unpleasant)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make fit

Example:

This trip will season even the hardiest traveller

Synonyms:

harden; season

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "harden" is one way to...):

toughen (make tough or tougher)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s somebody

Sense 3

Meaning:

Harden by reheating and cooling in oil

Example:

temper steel

Synonyms:

harden; temper

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "harden" is one way to...):

modify (make less severe or harsh or extreme)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become hard or harder

Example:

The wax hardened

Synonyms:

harden; indurate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "harden" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

harden; indurate (make hard or harder)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "harden"):

encrust; incrust (form a crust or a hard layer)

callus (form a callus or calluses)

calcify (become impregnated with calcium salts)

cure (make (substances) hard and improve their usability)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Antonym:

soften (become soft or softer)

Derivation:

hardening (the process of becoming hard or solid by cooling or drying or crystallization)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make hard or harder

Example:

The cold hardened the butter

Synonyms:

harden; indurate

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "harden" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Cause:

harden; indurate (become hard or harder)

Verb group:

harden; indurate (become hard or harder)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "harden"):

face-harden (harden steel by adding carbon)

callus (cause a callus to form on)

anneal; normalize; temper (bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Antonym:

soften (make soft or softer)

Derivation:

hardening (the act of making something harder (firmer or tighter or more compact))

Credits

 Context examples: 

Over time, plaque hardens and narrows your arteries.

(Atherosclerosis, NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Arterial stiffness, sometimes called hardening of the arteries, is a known risk factor for heart attack and stroke in adults.

(Too Much Salt? Unhealthy Blood Vessels Changes, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

A question about the difference in an individual's breast texture or hardening between the treated and untreated breast since treatment for breast cancer.

(Breast Texture Difference Since Cancer Treatment, NCI Thesaurus)

The quality of being hard, the process of hardening, or an abnormally hard spot or place, particularly of the skin.

(Induration, NCI Thesaurus)

Hal’s theory, which he practised on others, was that one must get hardened.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

But a moment ago you were moved by my representations, and why do you again harden yourself to my complaints?

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

His niece was deep in thought likewise, trying to harden and prepare herself against farther questioning.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Sore was his heart when he saw rare bowmen and war-hardened spearmen turned away from his gates, for the lack of the money which might equip and pay them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Already we were in her dust, so that we could see nothing but the dim scarlet blur in the heart of it, rocking and rolling, with its outline hardening at every stride.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her heart was hardened against the belief of Mrs. Jennings's entering into her sorrows with any compassion.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)