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hard put

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Definition of hard put

: barely able : faced with difficulty or perplexity was hard put to find an explanation
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Examples of hard put in a Sentence

she was hard put to explain her department's excessive expenditures
Recent Examples on the Web Without trade and movement between Iran and Iraq, however, Tehran will be hard put to get some of its non-oil industries fully functional again. — Falih Hassan, New York Times, "Iraq Resists Iranian Pressure to Reopen Border Closed to Slow Covid-19," 21 Apr. 2020 Our coaches work hard putting together a game plan. — Rana L. Cash, The Courier-Journal, "Complete Scott Satterfield interview comments after Louisville beats EKU," 8 Sep. 2019 Almost choked by automobiles that are usually left home in garages by would-be riders, the lots were hard put to find room for the vehicles of later-arriving shoppers . — Scott Harrison, latimes.com, "From the Archives: Parking lot jammed by transit strike," 19 June 2019 People crowded into slums, shantytowns and favelas from where they were hard put to reach jobs. — The Economist, "Shining light on Latin America’s homicide epidemic," 5 Apr. 2018 Old-fashioned undertakers are hard put to find their place in such antics. — The Economist, "Why undertakers are worried," 12 Apr. 2018 Having enacted so many new gun laws last year, state legislators were hard put to find new restrictions to pass this year. — Dan Walters, San Francisco Chronicle, "California’s new gun law is a puzzler," 19 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hard put.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of hard put

1893, in the meaning defined above

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Time Traveler for hard put

Time Traveler

The first known use of hard put was in 1893

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Cite this Entry

“Hard put.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard%20put. Accessed 7 Mar. 2021.

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