harden

verb hard·en \ ˈhär-dᵊn \

|Updated on: 14 Jul 2018

Examples: harden in a Sentence

Definition of harden

hardened; hardening play \ˈhärd-niŋ, ˈhär-dᵊn-iŋ\

transitive verb

1 : to make hard or harder

2 : to confirm in disposition, feelings, or action; especially : to make callous

hardened his heart

3 a : inure, toughen

harden troops

b : to inure to unfavorable environmental conditions (such as cold) —often used with off

harden off seedlings before transplanting

4 : to protect from blast, heat, or radiation (as by a thick barrier or placement underground)

intransitive verb

1 : to become hard or harder

2 a : to become firm, stable, or settled

b : to assume an appearance of harshness or severity

her face hardened at the thought

3 : to become gradually acclimatized to unfavorable conditions —often used with off

plants hardened off before the first frost

See harden defined for English-language learners

See harden defined for kids

Examples of harden in a Sentence

The presence of certain substances in the blood can cause the arteries to harden.
These additives are designed to harden the steel.
substances that can harden the arteries
The news has hardened opposition to the government.
He had been hardened by his years of military service.

Recent Examples of harden from the Web

There’s no doubt that Microsoft attempted to harden Windows 10 against many of the malicious code writers' known exploit strategies, which is also a likely contributor.

— ken colburn, azcentral, "Still running Windows 7? Probably not for much longer; Here's what you need to know," 2 July 2018
The vacancy also gives Donald Trump an opportunity to harden his backing among Republicans amid discontent over his border policy and other strains on his presidency.

— ethan bronner, Bloomberg.com, "Inside the Thwarted Venezuelan Military Coup," 28 June 2018
The fact is, PACE has enabled thousands of people with bad credit to harden their homes who otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

— ron hurtibise, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Will new federal rules slow PACE of energy-efficiency storm-hardening home upgrade program?," 13 June 2018
There is a strong pro-independence sentiment within Taiwan's current ruling party led by Tsai, prompting Beijing to harden its stance and stress its long-standing promise to retake the island by force if necessary.

— steven jiang, CNN, "Washington opens de facto embassy in Taiwan, angering China," 12 June 2018
Lisa Duell’s sunny, yellow kitchen became the headquarters of a grassroots parent effort to harden Noblesville’s schools months ago.

— emma kate fittes, Indianapolis Star, "Noblesville parents wanted more security. Then a school shooting happened to them.," 7 June 2018
At the wreckage in the village of San Miguel Los Lotes near the base of the volcano, rescue crews were operating again but rain from the previous night had caused the ash to harden.

— mark stevenson and sonia perez d., chicagotribune.com, "At Guatemala volcano, caution as rescue efforts resume," 6 June 2018
The cancer diagnosis only seemed to harden his focus.

— amanda schaffer, WIRED, "The Dying Scientist and His Rogue Vaccine Trial," 1 May 2018
In fact, an election management system that is approved and tested to the EAC standard is required to be hardened.

— dan goodin, Ars Technica, "US senator grills CEO over the myth of the hacker-proof voting machine," 6 Mar. 2018

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

First Known Use of harden

13th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

harden Synonyms

Harden

biographical name Har·den \ ˈhär-dᵊn \

Definition of Harden

Sir Arthur 1865–1940 English chemist

Harden

biographical name

Definition of Harden

Maximilian 1861–1927 originally Felix Ernst Witkowski German writer

HARDEN Defined for English Language Learners

harden

verb

Definition of harden for English Language Learners

: to become hard or firm or to make (something) hard or firm
: to become more definite and strongly felt or to make (something) more definite and strongly felt
: to make (someone) hard : to make (someone) less emotional and less likely to feel sorry for other people