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Webster 1913 Edition

Harden

Hard′en

(härd′’n)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Hardened
(-’nd)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Hardening
(-’n-ĭng)
.]
[OE.
hardnen
,
hardenen
.]
1.
To make hard or harder; to make firm or compact; to indurate;
as, to
harden
clay or iron
.
2.
To accustom by labor or suffering to endure with constancy; to strengthen; to stiffen; to inure; also, to confirm in wickedness or shame; to make unimpressionable.
“Harden not your heart.”
Ps. xcv. 8.
I would
harden
myself in sorrow.
Job vi. 10.

Hard′en

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To become hard or harder; to acquire solidity, or more compactness;
as, mortar
hardens
by drying
.
The deliberate judgment of those who knew him [A. Lincoln] has
hardened
into tradition.
The Century.
2.
To become confirmed or strengthened, in either a good or a bad sense.
They,
hardened
more by what might most reclaim.
Milton.
Syn. – Impenetrable; hard; obdurate; callous; unfeeling; unsusceptible; insensible. See
Obdurate
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Harden

H`ARDEN

,
Verb.
T.
h`ardn. To make hard or more hard; to make firm or compact; to indurate; as, to harden iron or steel; to harden clay.
1.
To confirm in effrontery; to make impudent; as, to harden the face.
2.
To make obstinate, unyielding or refractory; as, to harden the neck. Jer.19.
3.
To confirm in wickedness, opposition or enmity; to make obdurate.
Why then do ye harden your hearts, as Pharaoh and the Egyptians hardened their hearts? 1 Sam.6.
So God is said to harden the heart, when he withdraws the influences of his spirit from men, and leaves them to pursue their own corrupt inclinations.
4.
To make insensible or unfeeling; as, to harden one against impressions of pity or tenderness.
5.
To make firm; to endure with constancy.
I would harden myself in sorrow. Job.6.
6.
To inure; to render firm or less liable to injury, by exposure or use; as, to harden to a climate or to labor.

H`ARDEN

,
Verb.
I.
h`ardn. To become hard or more hard; to acquire solidity or more compactness. Mortar hardens by drying.
1.
To become unfeeling.
2.
To become inured.
3.
To indurate, as flesh.

Definition 2024

harden

harden

See also: härden

English

Verb

harden ‎(third-person singular simple present hardens, present participle hardening, simple past and past participle hardened)

  1. (intransitive) To become hard (tough, resistant to pressure).
  2. (transitive, ergative) To make something hard or harder (tough, resistant to pressure).
  3. (transitive, computing) To modify (a website or other system) to make it resistant to malicious attacks.
  4. (transitive, dated) To become or make (a person or thing) resistant or less sensitive.
    • KJV, Exodus 4:21
      When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.
  5. (linguistics) To become or make (a consonant) more fortis.

Derived terms

Translations

Anagrams

Dutch

Pronunciation

Verb

harden

  1. (transitive) To render hard(er), more resistant etc.; to temper metal; to steel nerves
    De geharde veteranen verbeten de pijn zonder jammeren.
    The hardened veterans bore the pain without whining.
  2. (transitive) to endure, bear, stand, tolerate

Inflection

Inflection of harden (weak)
infinitive harden
past singular hardde
past participle gehard
infinitive harden
gerund harden n
verbal noun —
present tense past tense
1st person singular hard hardde
2nd person sing. (jij) hardt hardde
2nd person sing. (u) hardt hardde
2nd person sing. (gij) hardt hardde
3rd person singular hardt hardde
plural harden hardden
subjunctive sing.1 harde hardde
subjunctive plur.1 harden hardden
imperative sing. hard
imperative plur.1 hardt
participles hardend gehard
1) Archaic.

Synonyms

Noun

harden

  1. Plural form of harde

Etymology

From hard +‎ -en.

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