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Definition of "hard-boiled" []

  • Cooked by boiling in the shell to a solid consistency. Used of eggs. (adjective)
  • Callous; unfeeling. (adjective)
  • Unsentimental and practical; tough. (adjective)

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 "hard-boiled" in a sentence
  • "• Snack and lunch-box favorites: Peanut butter and jelly on whole-grain bread, cheese cubes, hard-boiled eggs, baby carrots, raisins."
  • "My favorite part of The Sun Also Rises is when Jake thinks about how it is easier to be hard-boiled during the day than at night. booksherpa"
  • "Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett have taught Huge everything he needs to know about being a hard-boiled detective ... and he’s just been hired to solve his first case."