Definition of "hard put" [hard put]

• To be in a situation that is difficult to resolve. (adjective)

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• "Twilight still infused the sky with a subtle afterglow because the weather was fine; Richard walked so swiftly that Willy Insell was hard put to keep up with him, the rage in him growing with every step he took."
• "Dwarf-mail may be good, but they will soon be hard put to it."
• "If we had to choose between Napoleon, in the shape of Ben Cooley, or Lenin, in the lack – of – shape of Willie Struthers, we should be hard put to it to know which was worse."