Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

case–harden

play
verb case–hard·en \ˈkās-ˌhär-dən\

Definition of case–harden

  1. transitive verb

  2. 1 :  to harden (a ferrous alloy) so that the surface layer is harder than the interior

  3. 2 :  to make callous or insensible

case–hardened

adjective

Explore Merriam-Webster

watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square
solar-eclipse
Trending: Solar Eclipse Sends People to Look Up 'Syzygy'
video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066
image1489982902
Devilish Words

First Known Use of case–harden

1677

Learn More about case–harden

  1. See words that rhyme with case–harden

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up case–harden? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

waif

play

an extremely thin woman

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. syzygy An obscure astronomy term goes mainstream

  2. hegemon "Something having dominant influence over others"

  3. repugnant Trump clarifies his position on racism

  4. white nationalist, white supremacist Trending in 2017

  5. bereft "Lacking something needed, wanted, or expected"

SEE ALL

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

watercolor-squares
We're Down With You Being—or Your Being?—a Square

It's about (you? your?) having your say.

image1489982902
Devilish Words

Don't blame a word use error on the devil.

alt-599492594f435
How 'Wonderful' Lost Its Sense of Wonder

A case of semantic bleaching

dog-covering-face
Don't Let Reading This Be Another 'Coulda' 'Shoulda' 'Woulda'

PSA: They're three separate words.

Ask the Editors

video-title-words-of-the-year-1066
Words of the Year: 1066

Or, Why Pig Meat is Called 'Pork' and Cow Meat is Called 'Beef'

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

time-traveler-quiz-which-word-came-first
Time Traveler Quiz: Which Word Came First?

Which word entered the English language first?

Take the quiz
name-more-food
Name More Food!

Test your knowledge of food vocabulary!

Take the quiz
How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?
How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?

Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!

Take the quiz
Dictionary Devil
Dictionary Devil

The dictionary has been scrambled—can you put it back together?

Play the game