harden

verb

hard·en ˈhär-dᵊn

hardened; hardening ˈhärd-niŋ

ˈhär-dᵊn-iŋ

Synonyms of harden next

transitive verb

: to make hard or harder

: to confirm in disposition, feelings, or action

especially : to make callous

hardened his heart

: inure, toughen

harden troops

: to inure to unfavorable environmental conditions (such as cold)

—often used with off

harden off seedlings before transplanting

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

intransitive verb

: to become hard or harder

: to become firm, stable, or settled

: to assume an appearance of harshness or severity

her face hardened at the thought

: to become gradually acclimatized to unfavorable conditions

—often used with off

plants hardened off before the first frost

Example Sentences

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 on the Web The nation’s long-term fiscal outlook continues to be problematic and could only harden the Republican position that the government must rein in spending. —

Alan Rappeport, BostonGlobe.com, 12 May 2023 On Capitol Hill, Republicans in recent days have hardened in their refusal to act unless the president first agrees to spending cuts, defying Biden, who has accused GOP lawmakers of holding the nation’s credit hostage. —

Tony Romm, Washington Post, 8 May 2023 Or are these gender binaries themselves further hardened by Dederer’s curation of examples: Obvious male culprits are perp-walked through the pages, while obvious female culprits seem to get shielded. —

Laura Kipnis, The New Republic, 5 May 2023 Unless the flesh on Teddy's mangled chest hardened to Kevlar, and he's mastered some CIA trick to play dead, he's gone. —

Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 13 Apr. 2023 While pouring billions of dollars into arming Ukraine, its supporters, led by the United States, have increasingly isolated Russia, economically and diplomatically, while hardening the NATO alliance. —

Matthew Mpoke Bigg, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2023 Instead, positions seemed to be hardening as company executives began working on contingency plans and writers marched in picket lines around Los Angeles and in New York. —

Anousha Sakoui, Los Angeles Times, 4 May 2023 The revelations threaten to pitch already sour US-China relations into further crisis, and had the immediate effect of hardening bipartisan suspicion about Beijing on Capitol Hill in a way that will have serious diplomatic implications. —

Stephen Collinson, CNN, 17 Apr. 2023 What began as a soft war over in-person work after cities around the country reopened from pandemic shutdowns has started to harden. —

Emma Goldberg, New York Times, 11 Apr. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'harden.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.