Definition of toughen
: to become tough
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Examples of toughen in a Sentence
The government is toughening antidrug laws.
weight lifting will help toughen those flabby muscles of yours
Recent Examples of toughen from the Web
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Pompeo vowed to toughen U.S. sanctions that have targeted Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle and other senior government officials.
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The union announced its opposition to another bill introduced last week that would toughen the standard for when police officers can shoot a suspect.
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The legislation, which toughened sanctions on Russia for its alleged meddling in the 2016 election, as well as its military aggression in Ukraine and Syria.
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North Korea will be very reluctant to completely abandon a nuclear program that it’s spent decades building despite toughening international sanctions.
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While such a scenario is unlikely, the fact it is being floated as an option may give U.S. officials more leverage in negotiations with European signatories to salvage the accord by toughening it.
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By Sunday, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to declare that the current tailpipe standards, toughened by the Obama administration in concert with California in 2009, are overly strict for model years 2022 to 2025.
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Trudeau recently took a step Trump called for to toughen regulations ensuring that countries such as China aren’t dumping steel into the U.S. through Canada.
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The massacre was among the catalysts for the Clinton administration to toughen its Haiti policy and restore Aristide to power in 1994.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'toughen.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of toughen
1582
TOUGHEN Defined for English Language Learners
Definition of toughen for English Language Learners
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: to make (something) stricter or to become stricter
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: to make (someone) physically or emotionally stronger or to become physically or emotionally stronger
TOUGHEN Defined for Kids
Definition of toughen for Students
toughened;
toughening
: to make or become tough
- Going barefoot toughened my feet.
Learn More about toughen
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See words that rhyme with toughen Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for toughen Spanish Central: Translation of toughen Nglish: Translation of toughen for Spanish speakers
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