hard knocks
plural noun
: rough, unsparing treatment (as in use or in life)
Commercial-strength squares—baked clay, ceramic, vinyl or rubber stand up to hard knocks at home.—
Apartment Life
Apartment Life
especially
: difficult or painful experiences or circumstances
This is a testimonial, above all, of hard knocks, from a mother's absence and a family's sacrifice to care for his older, tubercular brother to the betrayal by White House patrons and staff. —Roger Morris
—often used in the phrase school of hard knocks Roger Morris Romances with men are the curriculum you'll need to determine what's right for you and what isn't. I'd prefer if you'd learn quickly and easily, rather than at the school of hard knocks. —Dave Singleton
Dave Singleton Examples of hard knocks in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The hard knocks of family life as a child, and betrayal by the Royal Navy, had shattered any dreams Avery once cherished.
—Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
Raised in Cumberland, Maine, the 21-year-old college student has spent time in the school of hard knocks.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2024
Here's a look at the films in the series: 'The Donut King' Ted Ngoy's story is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks and redemption.
—Detroit Free Press Staff, Detroit Free Press, 20 Apr. 2023
This new work provides the fascinating and useful result that fashioning controllers that work through a sequence of body shapes mimicking those seen in evolution accelerates the learning of new movement tasks and increases robustness to all the hard knocks that life inevitably delivers.
—Malcolm MacIver, Discover Magazine, 15 Feb. 2011
Outlast’s participants, by contrast, felt more like graduates of the school of hard knocks.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 9 Mar. 2023
The school of hard knocks had only begun.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2022
As the saying goes, the school of hard knocks is the best way to learn.
—Serenity Gibbons, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023
In Diper Överlöde, book 17 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Greg Heffley finds out that the road to fame and glory comes with some hard knocks, according to Kinney’s publicist Audra Boltion-Ortiz.
—Dallas News, 26 Oct. 2022
Sean Kingsley, Smithsonian Magazine, 2 Apr. 2024
Raised in Cumberland, Maine, the 21-year-old college student has spent time in the school of hard knocks.
—Lars Brandle, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2024
Here's a look at the films in the series: 'The Donut King' Ted Ngoy's story is one of fate, love, survival, hard knocks and redemption.
—Detroit Free Press Staff, Detroit Free Press, 20 Apr. 2023
This new work provides the fascinating and useful result that fashioning controllers that work through a sequence of body shapes mimicking those seen in evolution accelerates the learning of new movement tasks and increases robustness to all the hard knocks that life inevitably delivers.
—Malcolm MacIver, Discover Magazine, 15 Feb. 2011
Outlast’s participants, by contrast, felt more like graduates of the school of hard knocks.
—Frederick Dreier, Outside Online, 9 Mar. 2023
The school of hard knocks had only begun.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 Apr. 2022
As the saying goes, the school of hard knocks is the best way to learn.
—Serenity Gibbons, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023
In Diper Överlöde, book 17 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Greg Heffley finds out that the road to fame and glory comes with some hard knocks, according to Kinney’s publicist Audra Boltion-Ortiz.
—Dallas News, 26 Oct. 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hard knocks.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hard knocks.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hard%20knocks. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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