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Definition of "harden" []

  • To make hard or harder. (verb-transitive)
  • To enable to withstand physical or mental hardship. (verb-transitive)
  • To make unfeeling, unsympathetic, or callous: "To love love and not its meaning hardens the heart in monstrous ways” ( Archibald MacLeish). (verb-transitive)
  • To make sharp, as in outline. (verb-transitive)
  • To protect (nuclear weapons) by surrounding with earth or concrete. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "harden" in a sentence
  • "How inconstant are your feelings! but a moment ago you were moved by my representations, and why do you again harden yourself to my complaints?"
  • "As she watched his expression harden, she decided he wouldn't consider the comparison flattering."
  • "Elena could see the other’s eyes go cold, her expression harden to granite."