Definition of hard knocks
: rough unsparing treatment (as in use or in life)
—often used in the phrase school of hard knocks
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Recent Examples of hard knocks from the Web
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As a child, the school Collier most remembers is the one of hard knocks.
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Olson didn't mind taking a few hard knocks himself, either, if that sent the message through.
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Neither, for that matter, were the hard knocks and life experience that inform the best country music.
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Your poker education is usually going to be a school of hard knocks.
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For a leader familiar with the hard knocks of politics, Whitman has been unafraid to flip-flop.
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And Kelly isn’t trying to escape Saban’s coaching school of hard knocks.
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Taking hard knocks early in life could shove football players toward neurological problems later, a new study suggests.
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The new-breed bluesman who graduated not from the school of hard knocks, but from the University of Tampa with an MBA.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hard knocks.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of hard knocks
1849
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